You'll Be the Death of Me
by tremolux
Summary: Legend has it that the doppelganger is an omen of impending death. When Katherine takes Elena captive, the two discover that they have much more in common than just looks.
1. Sleight of Hand

**YOU'LL BE THE DEATH OF ME**

**CHAPTER 1: SLEIGHT OF HAND**

* * *

><p>With a coy smile, Katherine plucked a bright red strawberry between her cherry lips and tossed the stem to the ground as she strolled out of the Lockwood's mansion, leaving behind all of the bright lights, fire-breathers, and carnival style entertainment of the masquerade ball. She brushed by a magician performing tricks on the lawn. <em>Sleight of hand<em>, she thought; that's what it's all about. It's all about misdirection. It's so simple: you draw their attention to one hand while you do your dirty work with the other. Meanwhile, they're so distracted that they never realize what's truly going on. Too bad, the Salvatore brothers could have learned from such an example. They just weren't clever enough to figure it out. Jenna's stabbing incident was just part of Katherine's illusion; it was the deception, the distraction, the misdirection that stole the brothers attention away from the grand scheme, the real event. And by the time they finally figured it all out, _if _they ever did, it would be too late. Katherine thought that maybe she would come back later, after it was all said and done. She laughed at the idea. Of course she would come back. She loved to play games, just as much as the brothers unwittingly loved to play along with her.

Well, at least they tried. Or did they? Maybe they didn't try hard enough. Maybe they didn't want to. That last thought amused Katherine greatly. It was a shame that she had to leave so early, but she really couldn't stick around all night, playing that "stake through the heart" game with her favorite brothers. They were fast, they were strong, they were smart, but in the end, they were no match for Katherine's prowess and cunning. Always three steps ahead, always prepared for multiple outcomes; that's how she beat them, and that's how she walked out of there so easily. It was fun while it lasted, though. Her boys were fierce, but not as determined as she, and when it came to Katherine, they were out of their league in more than one sense. They certainly put up a good fight, though, and Katherine enjoyed a good fight, especially with such tasty opponents as her beloved Salvatores. Physical confrontations were frequently a turn on for her, and tonight's melee was the most arousing one in recent memory.

Katherine's high heels clicked all the way down the long, horseshoe shaped driveway. She smoothed her black dress as she slipped into the driver's seat of the SUV and carelessly threw her mask over her shoulder, which fluttered like a giant black butterfly before landing on the back seat. She had already driven a few miles away from the Lockwood's place when the call came in. With one hand on the steering wheel and the other with the phone pressed to her ear, Katherine spoke to the witch who helped make the night a great success. "Hello Lucy."

"The house is ready for you," Lucy said.

"Excellent," Katherine said. "And the moonstone?"

"In my possession," Lucy said.

"What about Tyler?" Katherine asked.

"He's triggered the curse," Lucy followed up.

"Are you certain?" Katherine double-checked, not willing to leave any shadow of a doubt.

"Yes," Lucy said.

"And where are my Salvatore brothers?" Katherine went on.

"Still at the Lockwood mansion. It'll be another twenty minutes before they come out of trance. Shall I set them on fire?" Lucy snickered.

"No. You let them go. That's an order," Katherine answered unflinchingly.

"As you wish," Lucy said. "And you've taken the trunk with you?"

Katherine peeked over her right shoulder at the large, antique wooden trunk sitting in the back of the vehicle. "Of course. I _always_ get what I want," she boasted, and tossed the phone aside.

* * *

><p>Katherine parked the car in front of the stately manor with its huge white columns and the massive, algae infested, stagnant water fountain out in front. This was the place. Lucy said it was ready, so there was no sense in waiting, even though there was always that fraction of doubt nagging at the back of Katherine's mind; the doubt over putting her trust in someone else, and the doubt over others doing their jobs properly. It was always an annoyance, however, Katherine's skepticism always paid off, and ultimately, kept her alive.<p>

Katherine trotted up the front steps and swung open the two heavy, creaky wooden doors of the palatial estate, revealing a spacious foyer, with its black and white checkered granite floor. She walked into the place, which was shrouded in darkness, and took a look around. Everything appeared to be just as it was when she had visited the house a few weeks prior. Fortunately, there were still plenty of furnishings in the place; sofas, chairs, beds, and even a dirty old nine-foot grand piano which sat in the ballroom, collecting dust. As long as Lucy did her job properly, the house would be a fine place to stay.

As a force of habit, Katherine reached for a light switch, completely forgetting that the house's electricity had been shut off by the power company. It was to be expected as the house was a foreclosure, but the lack of power mattered little to Katherine. During her earlier visit, she had the foresight to set up candles in every room of the house. She took a book of matches from the kitchen and went around lighting a number of select candles, both on the first and second floors.

There was a certain bedroom on the second floor that Katherine paid particular attention to. It was spacious, yet cozy feeling with its dark blue walls and mahogany furniture, and much like the others, it had four-poster bed, its own fireplace, and its own bath. However, the peculiar thing about this room, and what caught Katherine's eye in the first place, was that it had no windows. That particularly made the room ideal for her purposes. She lit up a lone cylindrical white candle and set it on the oak dresser by the door, and then she walked out, her heels clacking down the grand staircase and echoing off the high ceilings.

It was time to bring her possessions inside the house.

Katherine opened the back door of the SUV and pulled out the heavy wooden trunk, which looked like a huge pirate's chest of treasure. She hefted all two hundred pounds or so of the box with ease and carried it into the house, up the stairs, and into the windowless room, where she set it down at the foot of the bed. Then, by the flickering candlelight, she went through her ring of keys, located the key for the old trunk, and opened the corroded old brass lock. The heavy lid creaked as Katherine lifted it open, and she smiled with a sense of accomplishment when she looked down at what was inside.

"Hello, Elena," Katherine sang mischievously.

The blue jeans wearing girl curled up inside the trunk squinted at the sudden influx of light. Her mouth was gagged and her hands bound with cotton cloth. Katherine studied her prisoner with a playful sense of curiosity, as it was only the second time the doppelgangers had found themselves face to face with each other. But when Elena looked up at her captor, her eyes were not filled with fear, but with hate. Katherine noticed that glimmer of _Petrova fire_, and it almost made her proud, if not slightly amused. "Aw, don't be mad. We're going to have so much fun together!" Katherine proudly announced.

Katherine lifted Elena out of the trunk, sat her on the edge of the large bed, and untied her bonds. Elena didn't struggle or speak, but her eyes remained full of defiance. "That's good," Katherine said encouragingly, "You're not stupid enough to try to fight me, or run away."

"What do you want from me?" Elena asked bluntly.

Katherine sighed and shook her head. "Already with the deep questions? There will be plenty of time for that later. But right now, let me show you around your new home." Katherine paced around the room, waving her arms about. "This is your bedroom, obviously. There's a bathroom right over here... we have running water, but no electricity, so I suggest you don't blow out that candle unless you enjoy living in complete darkness."

Elena stood up from the bed and looked around the place, expressing little to no emotion.

Katherine looked over her young doppelganger. "After a few days, once the vervain has left your system, I'll compel you to behave yourself. Until then, you'll have to stay locked in this room."

Elena's head bobbed, as if in restrained acknowledgement of her imprisonment.

"I brought you this," Katherine said as she picked up the white paper bag that sat on the dresser and handed it to Elena. "Don't expect me to cook for you," Katherine snickered. Elena opened the bag and looked inside to find some shrimp cocktail and fruit salad that Katherine had obviously scrounged up from the Lockwood party.

"Thank you," Elena said, however detached emotionally.

The doppelgangers just looked at each other, each trying to guess what the other was really thinking, but the sudden ringing of a cell phone broke their staring session. Elena's heart jumped because she knew instantly by the tone that it was indeed her phone ringing. She made a jump to grab the phone from the dresser, but Katherine was quick to snatch it up first. Within the blink of an eye, Katherine slipped behind Elena and kept one hand on the ringing phone while her free arm tightly locked around Elena's neck, so tight that it made it breathing difficult.

"You so much as make a peep, and I'll snap your neck," Katherine breathed into her ear. "Understand?" Elena nodded with what little range she had to freely move her head within Katherine's unrelenting headlock.

Katherine then answered the phone, putting on her best impersonation of Elena. "Hello, Stefan? No... I'm fine... I just... I just had to get away from the Lockwood's place... really, I'm alright. Are you and Damon okay? I'm on my way home right now... Okay. Bye." Elena listened on, containing her burning rage over how Katherine was so blatantly infiltrating her life. Once the phone call was over, Katherine shoved Elena away.

"Take your clothes off," Katherine ordered.

"Go to hell," Elena spat.

Katherine was surprised, amused, and offended by such defiance, and with a loud smack, she slapped Elena hard across the face with such force that the girl almost fell over. Elena immediately drew her hand to soothe her throbbing cheek that turned rosy red.

"Take your clothes off _right now_," Katherine demanded, "or I'll take them off for you."

Elena reluctantly pulled the bloodstained pink shirt over her head, tossed it on the bed, kicked off her shoes, and unbuttoned her jeans, while Katherine dropped her sleek dress to the floor and shamelessly stood waiting in her lacy black undergarments. Neither could hide their fascination upon seeing each others' nearly naked body; bodies that was so perfectly and eerily identical down to every last detail. "I'll need to borrow this, too," Katherine said as she plucked the locket necklace from Elena's neck and fastened it around her own. Elena put on a bath robe she found in the closet while Katherine quickly dressed herself in Elena's clothes.

Katherine wiped off her cherry red lipstick while she looked herself over in the old gilded frame mirror to make sure the illusion was complete. Once her image was perfectly _Elena_, Katherine made her exit. "I have to go out and be you for a while. Don't have too much fun without me," she laughed as she slammed the door so hard that the resulting gust of wind almost extinguished the solitary candle, which happened to be Elena's only source of light in the room. Elena heard the clicking sound as Katherine locked the bedroom door from the outside, and then there was only silence.

Elena nervously began to pace around the room, looking for something; anything that might help her get out. Time would be her greatest enemy. She figured that she had two, maybe three days at the most before the vervain left her system. After that, Katherine would be able to compel her, and there would be little hope left to hang on to.


	2. Doppelgängers

**YOU'LL BE THE DEATH OF ME**

**CHAPTER 2: DOPPELGÄNGERS**

* * *

><p>Katherine left Elena alone, locked up in the dark, windowless bedroom with a single candle as her only source of light. Elena cinched her bathrobe tight around her waist and picked up the candle by its ornate pewter base. She cupped her hand around the flame, knowing that she would have to be very cautious with it as she didn't have matches or a way of re-lighting the flame, should it go out. With the candle in hand, Elena explored every aspect of the roomy bedroom and all it contained. Next to the door was an old mahogany dresser that stood almost as tall as she did. She opened every drawer, but they were all empty. Next to the dresser, a large oval mirror with an intricately carved gilded frame hung on the wall. She caught her own reflection and flashed back to Katherine making herself over in that mirror, <em>becoming Elena<em>. In the far corner of the room was a very Victorian era looking chair with red upholstered cushions, stitched with tiny gold fleur-de-lis. Next to the chair stood a cherry desk and a tall bookcase that was nearly empty, save for a few dusty old books that did not appear to be of any interest. Inside the closet, there was only a second bathrobe and some towels. Elena wondered if Katherine had put them in there. She must have, Elena thought, because they looked and smelled fresh and clean, unlike the rest of the room which was a bit musty. The large four poster bed was flanked by night stands on each side; Elena went through the drawers of each and found them to be empty. In frustration, she looked through the bathroom medicine cabinet which was freshly stocked with new toothbrushes still in the package, toothpaste, mouthwash, safety razors, shaving cream, soaps, and absolutely nothing useful for escaping.

Despondently, Elena sat on the bed and began to eat the leftover fruit salad and shrimp that Katherine had brought her. The thought that there was nothing at all of any use in this room was very upsetting, but she wasn't about to give up. It was like Elena's mother always said: where there's a will, there's a way. Elena ate and stared at the heavy and dark wooden door that kept her imprisoned. It was too big and heavy to try to break down, but her eyes drifted to the doorknob, and then to the keyhole. Elena put her meal down and went to get a closer look. She wiggled the doorknob in vain; it was locked tight, but that keyhole was interesting because it looked like a very old fashioned type, the type that could potentially be picked quite easily, if only she had a tool of the proper size and shape to poke around with. Unfortunately, she had nothing; not even a simple hairpin or a paper clip that would have been ideal.

Ever persistent, Elena scoured around the room again, searching all of the corners, under the bed, and on the floor, and finally, her efforts yielded something worthwhile when a flash of something silver caught her eye from the floor underneath the desk. Elena crawled on her hands and knees to get to the object that looked like a small dagger, but when she got her hands on it, she realized it was just a letter opener. The blade was steel and much duller than an ordinary knife, but still, it had a sharp point, and as least it was something. She anxiously ran back to the door, but her heart sank when she discovered that the blade of letter opener was just too wide to fit into the keyhole, and no matter how she angled it, she couldn't get the tip in deep enough to be of any use in picking the lock. Frustrated and feeling defeated, Elena dropped the letter opener into the pocket of her robe, and then she slipped into bed, pulled the sheets up to her chin, and laid there thinking that she would have to come up with a different plan. After a while of laying still, her eyelids became heavy, and they closed, and she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Katherine didn't return to the house until the next morning. She had spent the night pretending to be Elena, talking with all of Elena's unsuspecting friends and family. She was even so bold as to stay at the Gilbert house, sleeping in Elena's bed. Fooling them all was so easy. All she had to do was put on that distressed "Oh my God" look, and everyone just lined up to adorn her with hugs and petty comforts. She talked to Stefan, Damon, Jeremy, and Alaric about what happened at the ball, and it was tricky not to burst out laughing when they apologetically explained to "Elena" how Katherine had beaten them all and escaped with the moonstone. If only they knew what else she had gotten away with. Hilarious. Katherine had so much fun that she couldn't wait to do it again. But there would be plenty of time for fun and games later. Now, it was time to check up on the real Elena Gilbert.<p>

Katherine unlocked the door to Elena's room and stepped inside. The lone candle was still burning, illuminating the windowless room in a subtle orange hue. The big lump underneath the white bed sheets laid still, asleep. "Rise and shine, sleepy head," Katherine announced, but Elena didn't budge. "I brought you some of your own clothes," Katherine huffed and dropped the bulging overnight bag onto the floor. "Come on, time to wake up." Katherine stepped beside the bed and pulled back the covers, but much to her dismay, there was no Elena beneath the sheets; only a bunch of pillows arranged to look almost like a person. "What the-" Katherine's astonished muttering turned to screams of agony when a searing pain cut into her back. Elena had come up from behind, and with both hands, plunged the letter opener hard and deep between Katherine's shoulder blades. "You little bitch!" Katherine screeched as she fell to her knees, groaning and cursing, while Elena charged out of the bedroom as fast as she could, her white bathrobe flapping around as her bare feet padded down the cold marble stairs, and she sprinted to the quad of doors that led out to the front yard. Elena turned and tugged and pushed and pulled frantically at each doorknob, but to her horror, every single one was locked. Her heart sank again. So close, yet...

"You'll never beat me, Elena. You should know that by now," Katherine sneered, as if completing Elena's thought. Elena spun around, and Katherine was _right there_. There was a struggle, but Katherine easily overpowered the young girl, grabbed her, and dragged her back up to the bedroom, kicking and fighting the whole way.

* * *

><p>Katherine shoved Elena back into the bedroom and smacked her once again across the face, this time harder than the previous night; so hard that Elena lost her balance and stumbled to the floor. Elena rubbed at her sore cheek and tasted blood in her mouth, while she watched her own black and white Converse sneakers pace around in front of her on the creaky hardwood floorboards.<p>

"You ungrateful little bitch," Katherine sneered. "I gave you shelter. I gave you a bed. I fed you. I was even kind enough to bring you some of your own clothes... and this is the thanks I get? A knife in the back?" Katherine leaned over Elena who remained laying on the floor. Elena looked up at her captor and saw herself. "Contrary to what you might think... I'm not sadistic, Elena," Katherine went on. "I don't get any pleasure from making you suffer. But if you force my hand, I will make you suffer immensely. It's up to you. The choice is yours."

"Whatever your plan is, it's not going to work!" Elena snarled defiantly. "Stefan and Damon will find me!"

Katherine threw her head back and laughed heartily. "How are they supposed to find you when they don't even know you're gone?" She laughed again.

"What the hell do you want from me?" Elena groaned sadly.

"I want my life back," Katherine said.

"So what does that have to do with me?" Elena asked, reasonably calmer.

Katherine pulled the girl up from the floor, sat her down on top of the wooden trunk and took a seat beside her. "Look at me, Elena... look at me," Katherine said and reached out to pull Elena's head to meet her gaze. "What do you see?"

Elena looked and saw her own face looking back at her. "It's like looking at my own reflection," Elena said.

"We're doppelgängers, Elena," Katherine went on. "Haven't you asked yourself what it all means?"

"Of course... but I haven't found many answers," Elena said.

"In the legends, doppelgängers are harbingers of bad luck. When one makes its appearance, a disaster tends to follow soon after," Katherine explained. "Often, one doppelgänger represents evil, and the other good. Sometimes a doppelgänger is an impostor, slowly and steadily infiltrating and usurping every aspect of the other's life, until they completely take over."

Elena nodded. "I've read about that."

"All of that applies to us," Katherine went on. "Of course we could argue which one of us is the evil one and which is the good one, but those kind of black and white generalizations are not important. On the one hand, you could say that I'm taking over your life right now, and therefore I'm the impostor. But on the other hand, that wouldn't be fair because _I was here first_. It's _you_ who invaded _my life_. That would make you the impostor, Elena. So you see, it's really a matter of perspective."

Elena nodded hesitantly. Even though she didn't want to agree, the argument was a valid one.

"But that brings us to the most important part," Katherine continued. "The single, common thread throughout the legends is that of the doppelgänger as an omen of death. The very act of looking at your doppelgänger is a precursor of your own death."

Elena's eyes drifted to the floor.

"Look at me, Elena," Katherine said. She again pulled Elena's face to meet her own gaze.

"Now you understand," Katherine said. "Now you know the truth. Things once seen cannot be unseen, and that means one of us is going to die. The only question is who. But it really isn't much of a question now, is it? Because if there's only one crucial difference between you and me, Elena, it's this: I'm a survivor. I'm in control of my own destiny. What about you? One of us will die, Elena. I already know how this story will end. One of us will die... and I know who."

Elena's eyes again strayed to the floor.

Katherine stood up, dusted off the back of her jeans with her hands, and walked to the door. "And in case you still haven't figured it out yet," Katherine added, "here's a clue for you: it's not going to be me!" With those words, Katherine slammed the door and locked it. This time, the gust of wind produced by the door blew the lone candle out, leaving a wisp of smoke, and Elena was all alone in literal darkness, enshrouded in the forboding dread that unless something drastic happened to alter the course of events, Katherine would be right.


	3. Mirrored Simulacra

**YOU'LL BE THE DEATH OF ME**

**CHAPTER 3: MIRRORED SIMULACRA**

* * *

><p>Eyes open or closed, there was no difference.<p>

Elena spent hours laying on her bed in complete darkness, imagining the room as a sepulchre, her burial chamber. Except that she wasn't dead... yet. That was the curious part. "If Katherine wants to kill me, why hasn't she done it?" Elena wondered. "Why hold me prisoner?" There had to be more to the story that Elena was still in the dark about.

One thing that persisted in Elena's mind was the talk Katherine gave about doppelgängers. It was so strange. Elena loathed Katherine from the start; first for what she did to the Salvatores, and later, for infiltrating Elena's life. Yet, when looking at it from Katherine's perspective, _Elena_ was the evil impostor who swooped in and stole the brothers' love and attention. Elena had never considered such a thing until now, and the idea left her feeling slightly melancholy, if not the tiniest bit sorry for Katherine. Katherine's existence had to be a lonely one... not that she didn't bring much of it upon herself.

Elena's existence was a lonely one, too; held captive in a room, waiting for death to arrive. She almost wished Katherine would come in and stay for a while, to talk, argue, fight, or... something... anything. It wasn't that Elena enjoyed the company of her cold and calculating captor; it was simply because Katherine was the only company she had. At least that's the reason Elena told herself, and that's what she believed. The truth was that Elena's thoughts danced around many issues, but they always returned to Katherine, almost to the point of obsession. "What was she thinking? What was she planning? What in the world could Katherine be doing while she's out there impersonating me?" Elena asked herself. "And why hasn't anyone figured out that _she's_ _not me_ yet?" That was the question that frustrated Elena the most. Elena envisioned Katherine in her home, talking to Jeremy and Jenna, going to school, in the boarding house, kissing Stefan; such thoughts were maddening beyond belief. The very idea that Stefan and Damon could be so easily hoodwinked upset and angered Elena to no end, yet she still managed to maintain a degree of optimism. "They'll figure it out... Katherine will make a mistake and they'll figure it out... hopefully, before it's too late," Elena told herself.

Days went by, or so she thought. In Elena's mind, it felt like days, but she couldn't be sure. Without any windows or clocks in the room, time didn't exist. It could have been day or night; she didn't know, and it didn't matter. The only thing Elena had to roughly judge the duration of her imprisonment were the regular visits Katherine made to her room. It was always the same routine. Elena would hear the familiar jingling sound of keys, the heavy oak door would creak open half way, and Katherine would appear in the door. Not Katherine, but Katherine _as Elena_, and as such, Elena would see herself slip in the room briefly and leave behind cartons of Chinese food or other takeout meals, sometimes a cup of tea or coffee, and replacement candles. Their conversations always seemed like broken fragments of a puzzle that was neither here nor there. Elena still couldn't piece them together. And just as Elena completed that thought, there was the jingle, and there was the door, and there she was stepping inside. Elena sat up in bed and watched her doppelgänger enter the room. "If you're going to kill me, why don't you just get it over with already?"

Katherine just smiled and let out a quiet chuckle, her Elena-face set aglow in subtle orange candlelight and framed by her straightened, dark hair, as she set down a three-tier wrought iron candelabra on the dresser top. "It doesn't work that way."

"Well, how does it work, then?" Elena firmly demanded.

Katherine cocked her head to the side and wore a curious smiled. "Always the inquisitive one, digging for answers that you're not ready for... thirsty for knowledge you can't stomach; truths you can't handle."

"Who are you to decide that for me?" Elena challenged, but she barely had time to utter the words before Katherine backed out of the room with a laugh and locked the door again.

Just more broken fragments of the puzzle.

* * *

><p>Being trapped in a dark, windowless room with nothing to do was incredibly boring. Elena almost wished Katherine would compel her just so she could get out and go somewhere else in the house for a while. She spent most of her time either sleeping, pacing around, or reading terribly uninteresting books by candlelight. For a change of pace and some release of tension, she took an extra long bubble bath and spent way too much time shaving her legs to silky smooth perfection, just to give herself something to do.<p>

When Elena finished her bath, she slipped into her white cotton bathrobe, stood at the fancy oval mirror, and began to brush her hair. As she gazed at her own reflection, her heart jumped in fright when suddenly, silently, and without warning, her doppelgänger also appeared in the mirror, standing just behind her, peering over her shoulder... _Katherine_. And this time, she truly was Katherine, not an impersonation of Elena. Her naturally curly auburn locks, her noticeably edgier makeup, her chic fashion sense, the tight black jeans, the corduroy jacket and suede boots, her excessive bracelets and rings, her cruel smile; all the features of Katherine's identity had returned. Her presence charged the room with a certain energy that was so obvious, it was practically tangible. The lore was still impressed in Elena's mind: "the sight of your doppelgänger is an omen of death." Elena remained almost hypnotically frozen for a few seconds. She stopped in the midst of pulling the brush through her straight brown strands when she felt Katherine's hand with her multiple-ringed fingers alight upon her own hand; gingerly, tenderly, in an almost sensual _caress_. It was so unexpected and strange. It was a touch that instantly sent a shiver through Elena's body, and she felt the fine hairs at the back of her neck nervously tingle in response.

"Let me do it for you," Katherine said soothingly, and she took the hairbrush from Elena's hand. Elena didn't resist; her eyes remained transfixed on the mirror, while Katherine proceeded to brush the startled young captive's hair with surprisingly gentle strokes. Katherine's movements were slow, deliberate, graceful, almost seductive, but perhaps predatory, and it frightened Elena to think about what her ulterior motive might be. After all, she was Katherine, and she had to have an underhanded reason for doing anything. _Maybe she wants to bite me... drink my blood._ Elena chattered away in her worried mind. If so, there would be no way to resist; Katherine always gets what she wants.

"Did you get tired of being me?" Elena asked, finally shaking off her trance state.

Katherine smiled slyly. "I decided to take the night off. Your life is unbearably dull."

"Why don't you just kill me?" Elena asked despondently.

"I might," Katherine said, working the brush through Elena's hair. "But not tonight."

"I don't understand," Elena said. "Why keep me prisoner? There's more to this story that you're not telling me. Why?"

"Are you really sure you want to know?" Katherine asked. "Don't open doors you're not ready to enter."

"I'm sure," Elena said confidently.

"Does that make you brave?" Katherine proposed cheekily. "Or just too inquisitive for your own good?"

"If I'm going to die, I think I at least deserve to know what it's all about," Elena answered.

Katherine stopped with the brushing and met Elena's gaze via the mirror. "Alright, then. You want to know? Come with me, and I'll tell you."

"Where?" Elena asked.

"Somewhere else. You want to get out of this room, don't you?" Katherine spoke as if she had read Elena's own thoughts. Of course Elena wanted to get out. Not that she had an actual choice about anything, anyway. If Katherine wanted her to do something, she would be made to do it, one way or another. She was completely at Katherine's mercy.

* * *

><p>Elena drew her bathrobe tight and followed Katherine out of the room. Katherine carried a candelabra in one hand, illuminating their path as she led Elena down the dark hallway and into a powder room with a giant oak-framed mirror mounted to the wall above a long, tiled counter top with a sink. Katherine gestured Elena to sit down on a wooden stool while she lit more candles to improve the lighting.<p>

Elena sat and stared at herself and Katherine in the mirror. "What's the deal?"

"Relax," Katherine cooed. "I'm just curious, that's all."

"About what?" Elena asked nervously.

"I've gotten pretty good at being you," Katherine said, looking over her young doppelgänger in the mirror. "I'm just curious if you can be _me_." Without delay, Katherine produced a small portable curling iron and got to work, turning Elena's straight hair into curly, flowing tresses like her own. Katherine's hands felt surprisingly tender as they brushed up against her face, and completely different from the hands that previously strangled her and slapped her into a daze. Elena just sat and calmly stared into the mirror as Katherine styled and teased her hair. Slowly and steadily, Katherine shaped the girl into her own likeness. It was an almost _eerie_ scene, and Elena felt slightly uneasy, yet somehow curiously drawn in, if not allured by the whole process of becoming Katherine.

Elena asked herself why Katherine would be doing this, and miraculously, the answer presented itself almost as quickly as she formulated the question. "You want me to look like you so that you can use me as a decoy," Elena droned. Katherine paused from her work and stood still. "You want to turn me into a vampire," Elena went on. "That must be why you put me in a room without windows. You need me alive, as a vampire... for... something."

It was like she had read Katherine's mind, verbatim. Katherine was so stunned, she didn't even try to deny it. "You're very perceptive."

"You said you were going to explain it to me. Why would you want to turn me?" Elena asked.

"The main problem with faking your own death is that without a corpse to leave behind, there will always be doubt," Katherine hinted while running her fingers through Elena's hair.

"So you want to turn me into a vampire and then kill me, in order to fake your own death?" Elena asked, horrified by the concept.

"Maybe. It's just an idea I've been considering," Katherine said. "And for your own sake, you'd better pray that I do end up killing you."

Elena's eyes opened wide with terror. "What makes you say that?"

"Because if I kill you, at least it'll be a quick death," Katherine went on. "Now, what Klaus would do to you... that would be ten thousand times worse than what you'd get from me."

Elena gulped. "Who's Klaus?"

Katherine's expression grew cold. "Oh, I'll tell you exactly who he is. And when I'm done, you're going to regret ever having asked that question."

Elena sat, and Katherine talked while she brushed, curled, and made over Elena's image. Katherine explained the entire story in all of its tragic, bloody, horrific, and heartbreaking detail; the young Katerina's baby being taken away, her exile to England, meeting Klaus, the curse, what it really means to be a Petrova doppelgänger, the sacrifice, and five hundred years of scheming and running. As she told the story, Katherine was taken aback when she noticed what looked like the beginning of tears welling up in Elena's eyes. "That's so incredibly sad," was the only comment Elena could muster, feeling pangs of sorrow within her heart.

Not comfortable with such emotion in the room, Katherine brusquely finished up Elena's eyelashes, and then as the final touch, painted her own color of lipstick across Elena's lips. "There." It was finished. Katherine stood behind the girl, and with her chin over Elena's shoulder, she rested her head against Elena's; so close that Elena could smell the enticingly sweet scent of Katherine's hair; so close that their cheeks brushed against each other, and their silky auburn curls meshed together and shined with the soft glow of the candles. "Beautiful." Time stood still while the two doppelgängers stared off into the huge mirror, curiously captivated by its surreal reflection, if not thoroughly entranced by what they saw as _two Katherines_ staring back. The image was as hypnotic as it was stunning. "Perfect."

* * *

><p>When the experiment was finished, the two Katherines walked back down the hall to Elena's room. Elena entered and Katherine pulled out her ring of keys in order to lock the girl up for the night as usual. But as Elena walked into the room, there was a familiar intangible something that was pulling her back, calling her back. Heeding her instinct, Elena spun around, her curls swinging over her shoulder. "Katherine?"<p>

"Yes..." Katherine huffed impatiently, leaning inside the halfway open door.

"I'm sorry for what happened to your baby, and your family..." Elena's words flowed from the heart, without so much as a conscious thought to impede them.

Katherine's squinted expression was incorrigible. She looked pained, stunned, humbled, and disgusted all at the same time. "Why?" she fired back. "You didn't kill them."

Elena nodded. "It's just... what Klaus did to you... the suffering you had to endure... nobody deserves that."

"I don't want your sympathy," Katherine snapped. "That's not why I told you that story. I told you that story as an example of what kind of hell you'll go through when Klaus shows up... and he _will_ show up. It's only a matter of time."

Elena nodded, tucking her hands into the pockets of her bathrobe. "I understand. But I still meant it."

Katherine nodded in silent acceptance and waited a moment before she quietly stepped out of the room, closed the door, and locked it. Elena resigned herself to her bed, while Katherine returned to her own bedroom and poured herself a tall drink; not of the blood she craved, but of the inebriating variety.


	4. Sonata

**YOU'LL BE THE DEATH OF ME  
><strong>

**CHAPTER 4: SONATA**

* * *

><p>Just when she was getting used to the routine, it changed.<p>

Elena groggily rolled over in the middle of her queen size bed, just like any other morning under lock and key in Katherine's house. But this particular morning was not like the others; there was something very different that she could feel in the air as she transitioned from sleep to wakefulness, and she finally opened her eyes. The heavy oak bedroom door that had always remained shut and locked now stood curiously wide open. She immediately sat upright in bed when her ears perked up to the distant sound of music; a classical piano piece that was as haunting as it was intricate and beautiful. Elena was curious, but cautiously apprehensive about the break in routine. She did her morning routine as usual, dressed, and brushed her teeth, noticing her still-curly hair in the mirror which she had begun to like the look of. With the curly hair and her plain clothes, she didn't quite look like either Elena, nor Katherine, but somewhere in between. After quickly running a brush through her hair, she walked singly and freely out of her room for the first time since her capture.

The music was still playing from a distance, and the sound of it reverberated through the hall, and down the great marble staircase that led down into the grandiose, open, ballroom-like foyer which was lit up with the morning sun streaming through the windows. It was the first time she had seen the sunlight in days, if not a week already. Elena had gotten halfway down the stairs when she brought herself to a sudden stop, initiated by the discovery that the music was not a recording like she had thought; but rather, it was being played live by Katherine, who sat at the dusty, cobweb-infested old grand piano. The flared sleeves of her black blazer swung as she dexterously hammered, caressed, and finessed the ivory keys in an exceptional display of talent, and for lack of a better term, passion. Katherine looked up from her playing, never missing a note, and caught Elena's gaze for just a second. Elena stood almost humbled on those marble steps, just listening, just watching her play, until Katherine built up to the climactic crescendo of the last booming chords, and the twinkle of the final note decayed into silence. When it was quiet, Elena descended the rest of the stairs.

"That was beautiful," Elena said, rubbing her hand along the glossy, black lacquered top of the grand piano as she walked. "I never would have thought you-"

"Did anything else besides scheming, killing people, and drinking blood," Katherine hurriedly interjected. "Right?"

Elena nervously half-smiled. It was exactly what she was thinking, but she wouldn't have said it out loud.

"It's Rachmaninoff," Katherine said.

"Sonata number one," Elena quickly added.

Katherine looked impressed. "Very good. Someone's been paying attention in her Music Appreciation class."

Elena frowned and her eyes shifted upward, as if searching for a memory. "Actually, I've never studied classical music. I'm not even sure how I know that, or where I remember it from. It just sounds... familiar."

"Do you play?" Katherine asked, fingering an ominously atonal chord.

Elena glanced at the piano keys. "No. My mom tried to get me to take lessons when I was seven, but I never did."

"That's too bad," Katherine said, "because you won't find much else to do in this house." Elena blinked, and Katherine appeared right in front of her face. Elena nervously jumped a little, but she held her ground as Katherine predatorily stared her down. Katherine's piercing gaze always gave Elena a chill; it was always that same playfully curious, yet deadly look. Katherine looked her young doppelgänger straight in her brown eyes and began to speak. "You can't leave this house until I say so. You won't try to escape," she compelled. Elena's pupils contracted and dilated in response.

"I won't try to escape," Elena emotionlessly repeated in trance. She felt a ripple in time; like something had just happened, but she somehow missed it. Almost like déjà vu_._

Katherine smiled cruelly and without warning, grabbed Elena tightly by the forearm, and forcibly led her to the house's front doors. Elena had no clue what was going on, but she watched as Katherine swung open the two massive doors, revealing sunlight, green grass, blue skies, fresh air, and freedom. Elena just stood there, her eyes suspiciously darting back and forth between Katherine and the outside world, completely baffled as to what it was all about. "Go on," Katherine said tauntingly. When Elena didn't respond, Katherine once again grabbed her and forcefully pushed the girl towards the open doors. "Go on," Katherine repeated and shoved Elena hard towards the open doors. Elena's heart began to race, her breathing rate quickened, and in a panic, she braced herself against the door jamb, resisting Katherine's pushes with all of her strength and willpower. Elena was deathly afraid of stepping outside of the house. She didn't know why. She only knew that as much as she wanted to leave, she could not walk out that door, no matter what. Once Katherine witnessed this behavior, she eased up and tossed her curls back with a haughty laugh. "I just had to make sure. I never leave anything to chance."

Upon catching her breath, Elena put the pieces together, and understood what had just happened. "You compelled me."

"Like I said I would. Anyway, I have to leave for a few days," Katherine told her. "There's food and a cooler full of spring water in the kitchen, along with a whole box full of candles, and matches. Make yourself at home."

Elena didn't bother to ask where she was going, but her base instinct said it had something to do with the Salvatores. In an admirable showing of courage, the young girl challenged the elder vampire: "Do you even _care_ about either of them? Or have they always just been playthings for your amusement?"

"That's none of your concern," Katherine said brusquely.

"Look, I'm sorry that you think I'm taking over your life..." Elena began.

"You've just got a whole bag full of sorries, don't you?" Katherine jabbed.

"It's not like I set out to do it," Elena went on.

"Of course you didn't. It was inevitable. As doppelgängers, our fates are linked together," Katherine said. "But don't worry; it's not for much longer." Katherine smirked and huffed a silent chuckle as she brushed her hand against Elena's cheek and through her hair, sending that same electric shiver through Elena's nerves, like the night before. "The curls really don't suit you," she said with a slight air of disappointment, and then she marched straight to the open doors. "Don't throw any parties while I'm away," she joked. Then with a heavy crash of the doors, she left, leaving Elena alone in the house, but fortunately no longer confined to her bedroom.

* * *

><p>Elena took advantage of the opportunity to explore the house. She started on the main floor and gave herself a tour of each room. She felt that she was looking for <em>something<em>, though she wasn't sure what. Something that could help her in any way, she figured. There was a grand dining room with a table large enough to seat about thirty people. Across the hall, the library walls were lined with volumes of dusty old books, many of them foreign. In the game room, an old wind-up Victor phonograph sat in the corner with it's large horn covered in cobwebs; out of curiosity, she dusted it off and cranked the handle, and the platter spun. She picked out a record from the many stacks on the shelves, and soon the room was filled with the sounds of Chopin. She left the record playing as she wandered through the rest of the house, taking a candelabra with her to light the way down the creaky wooden steps into the very dark and musty basement. There was a small wine cellar stocked with several bottles, and she curiously pulled them out one by one to look at the labels. Not being a wine connoisseur, she didn't know what was what; but figuring that she may as well take advantage of anything available, she took a bottle with her back upstairs.

Elena went into the kitchen and set the candelabra and bottle of wine down on the counter top. There was a broom leaning up in the corner that caught her attention, and she went to pick it up. The handle was made of wood; just about the right thickness for what she needed. She laid the broom on the floor and stepped on the handle end of it, using her weight to hold it down as she pulled up on the other end. With some difficulty, the handle snapped and broke, leaving her with a long splintered piece of wood about a foot in length. All she had to do was whittle down the end, sharpen it, and she would have a fine wooden stake with which to kill Katherine.

Elena opened and looked through the kitchen drawers, and much to her surprise, they contained silverware and knives. She pulled out a medium sized butcher's knife and flicked her thumb across the cold steel blade. It was quite sharp. The strange part was that Katherine had to know there were knives in the house. But why would she leave them there? Why not take them away? Katherine said it herself; she never left anything to chance. So why leave perfectly usable weapons around the house? Elena was at a loss. Maybe she _wanted_ to be provoked. Maybe she found it amusing. Maybe Katherine just enjoyed a good fight. That was the only answer Elena could come up with.

Elena stood at the kitchen counter and carved the tip of the broken broom handle with the butcher's knife, collecting the wooden shavings on a plate. Later on, she would burn the shavings and the rest of the broken broom in one of the house's many fireplaces, in order to destroy the evidence. After about an hour's work, she had made an impressive stake. Certainly, she could have made others, but she didn't feel the need. Besides, it only took _one_ to get the job done. She pressed the tip of the stake up against her palm and decided it was sharp enough to pierce into the flesh without much force. Making the stake was the easy part; finding the exact opportune moment to successfully use it would be the difficult part. In the meantime, she had to find a place to hide it, and she decided that somewhere near her bed would be the best location. She took the knife back to her bedroom as well. The wood was necessary to kill a vampire, but the knife was still a useful tool or weapon to have available. She lifted the mattress and positioned her two weapons near the headboard, directly beneath her pillows.

Satisfied with her work so far, Elena went back down to the kitchen for a snack. It was getting into the afternoon already, and she began to feel pangs of hunger coming on. Since there was no electricity in the house, and therefore no refrigeration, Katherine had left a cooler filled with ice, bottles of spring water, milk, orange juice, and blood bags; the juxtaposition of which almost made her lose her appetite. She opened the cupboards and found several canned goods, dried fruits, boxes of cereal, and granola. The cereal and granola in particular caught her attention, and she curiously pulled them out one by one, only to discover that they were all the same kinds that she and Jeremy always had at home. Every single one. It couldn't have been by chance that Katherine had picked out all of Elena's favorites; she obviously had taken note of what was stocked at the Gilbert house, and made sure to bring the same. Elena crunched on a handful of her favorite raspberry vanilla granola and went to explore the rest of the house. Katherine was always full of surprises, and this was yet another. Perhaps there were more layers to Katherine than the completely selfish bitch, hellbent on her own agenda.

It almost made Elena feel sad, in a way. It almost made her regret making that stake.


	5. Fascination

**YOU'LL BE THE DEATH OF ME**

**CHAPTER 5: FASCINATION**

* * *

><p>The strident rays of sunlight that beamed through the windows didn't last very long. The house began to go dark again.<p>

Elena walked through the kitchen which had gone dim as the skies outside the windows turned ominously cloudy, gray, and dark. She peered out of one of the windows that lined the back patio of the property. Clearly, a storm was moving in. The early rumbles of thunder could be heard in the distance, and she lit up a few new candles to replace the ones that had melted down.

Elena retrieved a large, round goblet of a glass from the kitchen cupboard, pulled the cork from the bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and poured herself some. She paced around, sipping her wine and pondering over what else she could do while she was all alone in the house in order to thwart Katherine's plans. Now that Elena had a weapon in the form of a sharp wooden stake, it was a matter of finding the right time to use it. Kill, or be killed. Easier said than done. Elena knew she'd only get one chance, if at all; one stab, and it would have to be perfectly executed. She would need a clever plan of her own to pull it off. It wouldn't be as simple as sneaking into Katherine's bedroom at night and driving the stake through her heart.

Katherine's bedroom.

It occurred to Elena that she hadn't checked there, yet. If she wanted to get inside Katherine's head and anticipate her next move, her bedroom would be the place to start looking for clues. Elena took her glass of wine and a single candle, and went upstairs to explore, peering inside each rooms along the dark, wood-paneled hallway. Sure enough, the last door on the left was suspiciously locked. She bent down and peered through the keyhole, but it was too dark to see much. The fact that it was locked didn't deter Elena. Rather, she found it to be a promising sign, because it suggested that Katherine had a reason for keeping Elena out of there, and Elena was determined to find out what that reason was.

With a little ingenuity, and a wire coat hanger that she bent into an L-shape, Elena made herself a tool for picking the old-fashioned lock. It wasn't as easy as she thought it would be, but after about a half hour of fiddling and trial and error, she finally hit it right, and the lock clicked. _Success_. She swung the door open, revealing the house's impressive master bedroom. Elena picked up her candle and glass of wine from off the floor and entered.

"Of course, she would claim the best room in the house for herself," Elena muttered as she explored the room. The dark red walls were lined with magnificent oil paintings, and antique mahogany furnishings. The heavy red drapes were tied back with golden ropes, revealing the stormy scene outside the windows. An ornately stitched oriental carpet sat before the fireplace. Elena couldn't help but scoff when she saw that the private bathroom alone was almost as big as her own room. The huge four poster bed was not made and had obviously been slept in, and several pairs of Katherine's familiar heeled boots were scattered across the floor. There were a mix of clothes strewn about the room; mostly Katherine's, but some were Elena's. Katherine had definitely been staying in the room, no doubt about it.

Elena set her candle and wine down on the dresser and looked around for anything of interest; anything in particular that might be a clue or a window into Katherine's thoughts. A little black book sitting on the nightstand beside the bed caught Elena's attention first. She opened it up and flipped through the handwritten pages. "Is this a journal?" she wondered. "Couldn't be." A journal would imply that Katherine had _feelings_, and that just didn't seem quite right. Elena sat on the edge of the bed and took a closer look at the book, leaning towards the window for a little extra light. It wasn't exactly a journal; it was more like a notebook with dates, names, places, directions, times, and some thoughts and ideas scribbled throughout. Elena flipped to the back pages and skimmed through the last entries:

.

_For five hundred years, I've waited for this. Finally, I have her. My ticket to freedom...  
><em>

_._

_...have to find out if Klaus knows the human doppelgänger exists. If not, I could use her to fake my death... it's the easier path, but it would destroy the only bargaining chip for my freedom. Yet, if I give her over to Klaus, there's no guarantee he won't take me as well. There are no easy solutions here..._

_._

_...something clicked when we both looked in that mirror. We're more alike than she'll ever know..._

_._

_...the curious glances; scanning eyes that cannot pull away. It's clear that we each harbor a fascination for one another, as doppelgängers..._

_._

_...yet, she appeared genuine in her sympathy. No one ever shows me compassion like that; not once they know who I really am..._

_._

Elena put the book down, careful to position it exactly as she had found it.

She went over to the old wooden makeup cabinet with its large rectangular mirror. All of Katherine's cosmetics and hair products were laid out there, along with several tiny glass bottles of perfume. Elena curiously opened one and ran it past her nose. She recognized it instantly as Katherine's scent. Additionally, there was a little ebony jewelry box full of Katherine's rings, necklaces, and bracelets. Elena looked up and caught her own reflection in the mirror and Katherine's words from earlier suddenly echoed in her ears: "The curls really don't suit you." On the contrary, Elena rather liked the curls. It was a nice break from the usual, as she had kept her hair straight for most of her life. She ran her fingers through her hair, and thought back to how Katherine had made her over last night. It was strange how much Elena _liked_ the feeling it gave her. It was a thrill. It was almost empowering, in a way. It was like the feeling of getting a new hair style or outfit, but so much more dramatic. Specific traits just seemed to amplify; she felt stronger, sexier, more confident, daring, and in some ways, more alive. The whole thing had sparked a certain fascination, and like a moth to the flame, Elena found herself strangely drawn to the mystique of Katherine. She craved that feeling again, and as she looked down at Katherine's cosmetics laid out in front of her, she got an impulsive urge to make herself over.

"Why not?" It's not like she had a schedule or anything else to do alone in the creaky, old, dark house, while the rain pelted the windows. Elena pulled a chair up to the makeup cabinet, perched herself in front of the mirror, and got to work transforming her image into that of her doppelgänger. Her hair was already perfect, so it was just a matter of getting the finer details, the right eyeliner, and a swipe across the lips from one of Katherine's favorite colors. It didn't take much and it didn't take long before Elena started to see Katherine staring back at her. "What better way to get inside her head than to _become _her?" she thought as she sat back and looked into the soft glow of the mirror and sipped her wine. Elena felt beautiful, and maybe more grown up, and she liked those feelings. She took another sip of wine. The image was convincing, for sure, but she still craved more. She had Katherine's face, but her clothes were still drab and boring _Elena_; they were holding her back, ruining the image and the mood. Elena got up and went to the dresser to rummage through Katherine's clothes, pulling out one piece at a time until she had assembled an outfit for herself. It was something similar to what Katherine had worn when she and Elena first met face to face; something casual, hip, and unmistakably Katherine. Happy with her choices, Elena then cast off her own dull wardrobe and slipped her hips into Katherine's tight black jeans, a purple top that was still infused with Katherine's scent, a skinny black corduroy blazer, and to top it off, Katherine's purple suede heeled boots. Elena spun around in front of the mirror, taking pride in her transformation, but it was still incomplete. She flung open the ebony jewelry box and selected a few pieces; a gold necklace and earrings, some jangly bracelets, and a number of rings that she randomly stacked onto her fingers. She stood back and marveled at the reflection.

Now, she was complete. Now, she was perfect.

Elena stood proudly admiring her perfect Katherine reflection. It was amazing. But it was more than a visual thing. It was so much more. Elena felt a powerful shift within herself. She felt strong, fearless, and unstoppable. She felt more confident, beautiful, and sexier than she had ever felt about herself as "Elena." It was profound, fascinating, and somehow addictive, because as incredible as it felt, she still wanted more. So, she dabbed a drop of Katherine's perfume on her neck, enjoying its lightly sweet, flowery scent. Then she began to walk around in front of the mirror, practicing her steps, attempting to mimic the swagger that Katherine carried herself with. She posed, planting a hand on her hip and leaning into it, just like Katherine would do. She tilted her head to the side and put on a smile that resembled something between sly and seductive, and during that brief moment, Elena lost herself completely. In that moment, she was Katherine... and she_ loved it. _

Elena tossed her curls back and picked up her wine, and brought the glass to her lips in a celebratory self-toast. But as soon as the dark red liquid hit her tongue, she spat it out in disgust. It was sweet and salty and foreign and _it wasn't wine!_ It was _blood!_ In shock, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, with a trail of red that dripped from her pink lips, and down to her chin. It wasn't wine. It was blood. It was blood, and she was_ Katherine. _She wiped her face clean with her hand and brought her fingers to her nose to sniff them, and in turn, she sniffed the contents of her glass. She apprehensively licked her finger and took a small sip from the glass. It _wasn't_ blood. It was wine. How bizarre, because for a moment, she was certain that she had tasted blood. The only thing she could figure was that it must have been the combination of the empty house, the dim and hypnotic candlelight, and the Katherine role play that had begun to play tricks with her mind.

Calming herself from the brief upset, Elena continued with her role play. It's not like she had anything else to entertain herself with. After a few glasses of wine, she felt pretty mellow, and she found herself back in Katherine's wardrobe, looking through all of her clothes again. Katherine certainly had a distinct and expensive taste in style. The lingerie collection alone must have cost a fortune, Elena thought, and though she had no intention of trying any of it on, she couldn't help but envision some of it on herself. Remembering the large oak chest in the corner that she hadn't investigated yet, she undid the latches and lifted the heavy lid. Elena gasped in awe of the contents. The entire inside of the chest was lined with fragrant cedar wood, obviously a deterrent against moths. There were dresses inside; beautiful, colorful dresses, clearly from eras long past, all carefully folded and preserved. It was shocking to see them and think that Katherine had kept and stored them for so many years, simply because they suggested memories, and memories suggested sentiment, and sentiment suggested that Katherine had _feelings_.

Elena felt a bit guilty for snooping in such a private, personal place, but she couldn't help herself. She took out a lovely nineteenth century looking two-toned gown in agave blue and white, and laid it out on Katherine's bed. The dress, although clearly vintage, wasn't fragile by any means. The old world hand craftsmanship clearly stood the test of time versus today's mass produced, disposable garments, and so Elena had no qualms in indulging her fascination and trying the dress on. It was only fair; since Katherine had been wearing Elena's clothes, Elena felt entitled to do the same. She quickly slipped out of Katherine's modern fashions in favor of the elegant evening wear of a bygone era. The dress was stunning. _She_ was stunning. She pinned up her curly locks and donned the matching, long silken gloves that went up to her elbows. There was just one thing missing. She sifted through the jewelry box and found the antique cameo necklace, inlaid with lapis lazuli and ivory, and as soon as her fingers touched it, she knew it was the right one to wear.

Once the cameo was clasped to her neck, the fantasy was perfect. She danced around in front of the mirror, delightfully admiring the elegant grace of her beautiful Katherine reflection, and Elena fantasized about a time period at least a century before her own birth. She was even a bit jealous of Katherine for having lived it.

Maybe she had just had a little bit too much wine, but the dancing caused her to spin and she felt dizzy, and suddenly very tired; so tired that she felt like she couldn't stand up much longer, and so she hobbled over to Katherine's soft bed just to rest for a few minutes. But it wasn't long before her eyelids became too heavy to keep open, and so they closed, and she swiftly drifted off to sleep.

Elena opened her eyes, only to find herself in the middle of a grand ballroom. She looked down and saw that she was still wearing Katherine's blue dress with the silken gloves. There were many people dancing all around her, but none of them seemed to notice her standing there. The sound of their leather soles against the wood floor was loud, but the music from the live orchestra was almost overpowering. There was a great crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and the room was bright, and alive, and filled with energy. All of the ladies were in colorful gowns, and the men were in white tie and tails. It was then that Elena realized she was in an earlier time; a time long before her birth. She slowly turned around in a circle, looking at the many faces to see if she recognized anyone, but she didn't. They were all strangers.

Feeling nervous and slightly embarrassed, she turned to get away from the dance floor and walked straight into a man's arms, who promptly whisked her back into the dance.

It was Stefan.

He looked different with his hair combed down, but it was clearly him.

"Stefan!" she gasped. "I'm so glad you found me!"

"Where have you been?" Stefan asked. "I've missed you."

"I thought I might never see you again," she said.

Oddly, her words didn't seem to affect Stefan at all. He just smiled and looked her in the eyes. "I'll love you forever, Katherine," he said.

Her smile faded. "_He called me Katherine,_" she thought, but as they danced, she looked around the ballroom at all of the nineteenth century decor and clothes, and she became very confused. "_Am I Katherine?_" she wondered.

Before she realized it, Stefan spun her away and she was taken into the arms of the black-haired man who she recognized right away.

"Damon!" she sighed. "I was afraid I'd never see you again, either!"

"I think my brother will have a difficult time trying to keep you all to himself," Damon said as he whisked her around the ballroom.

"How will I _ever_ choose?" she coyly proffered.

Her words seemed to go right past him. He just smiled and kept with the dance. "I'll love you forever, Katherine," he said as he spun her away, only to land in the arms of another. She looked up to see her own face staring back at her. She was dancing with her doppelgänger, and she lost herself. The confusion and disorientation only amplified. Their dresses and jewelry were identical; their faces and hair were identical. They were a perfect pair, and people stopped dancing around them and stood back, but the orchestra played on quietly, and the doppelgängers continued their dance.

"Who are you?" one asked.

The other smiled. "You're still asking the wrong questions."

"Who am I?" one asked in response.

"That's a better question," the other answered vaguely.

"How are we both here at the same time?" one asked.

"That's an even better question," the other responded.

"But you know who you are?" one asked.

The other nodded. "Here's a clue that may help you: which of the Salvatore brothers do you feel more strongly about?"

After a lingering moment of consideration, the one finally spoke. "I'm not sure any more," she said.

The other smiled. "History repeats itself, Elena."

"I'm Elena. I know it now," Elena said. "You're Katherine."

"You say that like there's an actual difference," Katherine said with a sly smile.

The two continued to dance slowly to the orchestral waltz. They felt wonderful in each others' arms, with such a sense of contentment and belonging as their warm bodies grazed against one another. They were so caught up in each other that they hardly noticed the floor had completely cleared out, and everyone else just stood back around the walls and stared blankly at the doppelgängers. Damon and Stefan could be seen standing off to the side, watching. Watching and waiting.

"They must feel left out," Elena said with a hushed voice. But she wasn't at all remorseful. Her attraction to her own doppelgänger was a magnetic pull that was stronger than what she ever felt for Stefan or Damon. She never wanted this dance to end.

"It was never about them. It's always been about _us_," Katherine said.

"I know it now. I feel it so very strongly," Elena said with a hushed voice. She felt absolutely elated; light, airy, and inexplicably drawn to Katherine in this moment.

"It's strictly forbidden, of course. We'll be the talk of the town. It'll be quite the scandal," Katherine said, smiling slyly. "Let's give them something to _really_ talk about..." Katherine slid her smooth, cool, silken gloved hands along the sides of Elena's face, and pulled her in close. Their eyes closed in their collision course as their lips touched and parted, and they kissed, and their tongues danced although their feet had stopped moments ago. They felt a surge of raw energy and emotion; powerful, and cosmic, like nothing else in the world. It was an indescribable ecstasy. And then everything else seemed to disappear, and it was only the two of them.

It was perfect.

It was love.

If only it were meant to last.

The sudden, screaming, blinding pain that burned like a concentrated bolt of fire snapped Elena's eyes back open. She yelped and gasped and saw the innocent smile still on Katherine's face, and she looked down to see the dagger buried in her own stomach up to its silver hilt, the handle firmly gripped in Katherine's gloved hand. When the dagger was finally retracted, Elena fell to her hands and knees in a shallow pool of blood that poured from her own gaping wound and dribbled from her mouth. She gasped repeatedly to catch such shallow breaths, and she choked on her own blood as she stared at the feet her doppelgänger; her killer.

"Why?" Elena struggled to utter the one word, but no answers were forthcoming. She collapsed completely, the front of her dress soaked and stained in deep red as her cheek rested against the hard, cold wood, and she saw that the bystanders in the ballroom were not real people, but wax mannequins. Her last vision was of the bloody silver dagger as it dropped to the floor beside her face with a bell-like clang. Then the room began to spin faster and faster, gaining momentum and accelerating until everything was just a blur. And after the blur, there was only darkness.

Elena gasped and awoke with a start; still in Katherine's dress, still in Katherine's bed, while the thunderstorm pounded away mercilessly at the windows.

She decided that she was done with playing dress-up for a while.


	6. Designs

**YOU'LL BE THE DEATH OF ME**

**CHAPTER 6: DESIGNS**

* * *

><p>The shadows danced over the bathroom tiles as Elena set down the ornate pewter candelabra on the sink, stepped out of her clothes, and slipped into the warm shower, sliding the frosted glass door closed behind her. The candles always cast such a haunting glow in the bathroom, especially the way the light mingled with all of the porcelain and the large hanging mirror. Because candlelight has a certain amount of <em>motion<em> to it, every flicker and every shadow had the potential to startle her. She was almost sure that out of the corner of her eye, she saw Katherine appear, stealthy and predatory; but when she looked over, there was nothing. Just a trick of light and shadow, Elena thought. Katherine wasn't in the house, and likely wouldn't be back for several days, but the thought of the jaded vampire loomed large on Elena's mind.

Elena hurried in the shower, as if she had a pressing urge to cleanse herself of everything to do with her current predicament. As the warm water pelted her skin, the images from earlier came flooding back into her mind. She pictured herself in Katherine's jeans and outfit, strutting in front of the mirror, and thinking and feeling not exactly like herself, but more like Katherine. Elena wasn't quite sure why she even did that. It was a bit creepy and strange, but she wanted to get inside Katherine's head so badly that it practically consumed her being. It seemed that the deeper she went into Katherine's wardrobe, the deeper she went into Katherine's psyche. The concept disturbed Elena, but it was exactly what she needed to do to survive. Katherine's compulsion kept Elena a prisoner, and the only way to break that compulsion would be to get new orders from Katherine, or to kill her. Elena would have to beat her at her own game. And since Katherine's survival depended on Elena, it would most likely come down to a fight to the death.

Everything always came back to _death_.

Doppelgängers aren't meant to coexist. Only one could stay, and the other would have to die.

That idea must have been what provoked the dream.

The events of the dream were still crystal clear in Elena's mind, unlike her ordinary nightly dreams that were usually forgotten by breakfast. This dream was different; it was too vivid, and just too real to forget. The sights, sounds, and feelings were still there. She remembered how good it felt to be with Stefan again. Damon, too. It was a happy, warm and safe feeling; like coming home after a rough day. Elena eventually began to wonder if those feelings were truly her own. Or were they Katherine's?

Everything changed when Katherine showed up. The air felt sharp. Her heart beat faster. Nerves tingled. Fine hairs stood up. Beyond their enigmatic dialogue of who's who, there was an enveloping feeling of belonging and she experienced a blissful oneness with her doppelgänger that to the best Elena dared to describe, felt like love.

_Love?_

Elena scrubbed the vanilla-scented soap over her shoulders and shrugged off the impossible idea, which just seemed so crazy, nonsensical, and _wrong_. Katherine was incapable of love. Her heart was cold and black. Maybe not entirely so, as evidenced by little hints she revealed. But still, the two doppelgangers were mortal enemies pitted against one another. There was _no room_ for any love in that equation. It was purely about survival. Kill, or be killed.

Even though Elena didn't want to dwell on the macabre, what was freshest in her mind was how the dream climaxed and ended. If it all meant something, she was at a loss. All she knew was that the images wouldn't go away. Like the droplets of water at her feet, she tried to let her worries bead up and roll off her skin. Of course it wasn't that simple, but she pretended that were the case. She washed her hair, and her curls relaxed and fell back into straight strands. In a way, she was disappointed about it, but she thought it a good idea to ground herself back in the reality of being herself again.

* * *

><p>Elena's pink and white nightie hugged her skin and felt like a little piece of home when later that night, she found herself in the game room sorting through the old records. She felt that the classical music in combination with a little alcohol would help soothe her mind. She sat on the sofa with her bare feet up on the cushion, hugging her knees while the big black disc spun under the dirty needle of the old phonograph; sipping her wine until her erratic thoughts mellowed.<p>

It worked for a little while, at least.

"Cute outfit," Katherine commented as she suddenly appeared in the doorway, startling Elena. The suave vampire entered the room, the sleeves of her leather jacket bunched up at her elbows. She decidedly went for Elena's open bottle of wine and poured herself a glass. "I see you've gotten into the wine cellar. Good girl! I like the way you think." She held up her glass in a brief toast.

"Why do you always have to sneak up on me like that?" Elena snapped.

"It's fun. You're adorable when you're frightened," Katherine teased.

"So, you're back early." Elena pointed out the obvious.

"Did you miss me?" Katherine asked, sipping her wine. Elena cracked a sketchy smile.

Katherine's attitude was bordering on flirtatious, and it made Elena uncomfortable; such that she wasn't sure what to do with herself in the vampire's presence. She instinctively attempted to cover up more of her bare legs, but the nightie simply didn't offer much material to hide behind. She wasn't sure why she felt so awkward. Perhaps it was Katherine's piercing glances, but the exercise was silly considering that Katherine had already seen more skin than what was on display. Besides, their bodies were the same, and fearing Katherine's leering glances was almost as silly as fearing her own reflection.

Almost.

The empty manor was lonely and somewhat creepy in its haunted house atmosphere; and as bizarre as it seemed, Elena almost felt better when Katherine was around. Maybe it worked both ways. The two remained in the game room with sparse conversation amidst the crackle of burning wood in the fireplace, each secretly preferring the company of their enemy as opposed to retiring to their bedrooms alone, but neither capable of admitting such a thing. Elena kept herself busy flipping through the shelves of dusty old records. Katherine lazily sprawled herself on the larger sofa, her head hanging halfway off the cushion such that her silky curls nearly skirted the floor; her ankles crossed and perched upon the armrest, while the toes of her gray suede boots swung in time with Brahms playing amidst the pops, clicks, and hisses of the old wind-up phonograph. She yawned and outstretched her arms, one hand clutching her nearly empty wineglass while her free fingers alternated between twirling her hair and slowly tracing along the swirly embroidered designs on the sofa cushions. In this odd position, she looked like the image of contentment without a care in the world, but that was far from the truth. The truth was that Katherine had plans, and not just about Klaus coming to town, or the sacrifice. Rather, she had other, special plans for her young doppelgänger.

Katherine's slender arm hung from the sofa, languidly waving her empty wineglass about. "Pour me some more?"

Elena took pause from sorting through the albums to fetch the dark green bottle of wine and filled Katherine's glass. Elena watched with curiosity, wondering how she would be able to drink in her odd position without choking or spilling her glass, but she didn't. Instead, Katherine sat upright, folding her legs up underneath herself, and with a pat of her hand, she motioned for Elena to sit down next to her. Elena's eyes darted back and forth as if weighing the options, before she hesitantly sat down. The girl watched as Katherine peculiarly dipped her pinky finger into her wine and brought it into her pursed lips where she provocatively sucked it dry. Elena frowned at the bizarre behavior until Katherine giggled, revealing that it was just a silly ruse to get some attention.

"Did you like the snacks I left for you?" Katherine asked.

"You know all of my favorites," Elena said.

"Does that surprise you?"

"A little," Elena said, sipping her wine. "In some bizarre way... I'd almost think you sort of... care."

Katherine let out a haughty laugh. "Well then, you'd be _wrong. _Believe me, I'd kill you without a second thought if it would benefit me. But it just so happens that I need you to stay alive. Lucky you."

"Lucky me," Elena repeated darkly.

Katherine sat back with a mischievous grin and drank her wine while she drank up the sight of Elena. With a furtive sideways glance, Katherine's eye traced over the pink nightie, enjoying how it was delightfully girlish and sexy at the same time with the thin layer of pink cotton clinging so delicately to the lovely girl's body; from the frilly white hem that rode up on her thighs, contrasting with the olive skin of her long, smooth legs; to the lacy bridge across the curves of her breasts; up to the straps that threatened to slide off her shoulders.

But Katherine wasn't preoccupied with Elena's body, per se; she was more turned on by all of the deliciously _naughty_ things she wanted to do with the girl. Katherine already had designs on seducing her captive doppelganger. She thought it would be such a tragedy to send Elena off to her demise without first having some fun with her. It was a shame not to enjoy such beauty, Katherine thought; a beauty that so perfectly reflected her own. Perhaps it was the element of taboo_, _that forbidden aspect that made it such a thrill, but the thought of making Elena squirm underneath the bed sheets amused and aroused Katherine like nothing else. It was such a twisted, depraved desire; the very kind that Katherine liked best. She had no rules or limitations against such a thing. It was rare for her to find new forms of excitement these days, so she had to seize opportunities when they presented themselves. Katherine was old; she had "been there and done that" for centuries over, and so things got very boring, and she always had to find new games to play for her own personal satisfaction. And what could be more fun than making over her _girl next door_ doppelganger into a lusty little playmate? She had already been testing the waters in anticipation. The subtle looks; the little touches; brushing Elena's hair; every single thing Katherine did was for a _purpose_, and she had been gauging Elena's reactions from the very beginning. Being doppelgängers, there was already an inexplicable connection; a sort of electric spark between them, and Katherine was set on fanning that spark into flames of heated passion.

"So, did you find anything of interest in my room?" Katherine asked out of the blue, startling Elena with such directness and an obvious knowledge of what the girl tried so hard to keep secret.

Elena ashamedly lowered her wineglass mid-sip. After a long silent pause, she boldly asked: "Why did you keep those dresses?"

"They're so beautiful, it always seemed a shame to get rid of them," Katherine answered.

"That can't be the only reason," Elena persisted. She suspected it wasn't.

"Do you really care to know, or do you just enjoy wearing my clothes?" Katherine smugly and surprisingly flipped the interrogation around on her. Elena looked to the floor; she exhaled slowly, and her cheeks reddened with embarrassment. Somehow, she had been caught.

"How did you know?" Elena finally asked.

"Little things out of place," Katherine said between sips of wine. "I can smell my perfume on you, and... you're still wearing my earrings," she said, playfully brushing the girl's hair back over her shoulder.

Elena's fingers impulsively grabbed at her earlobes and felt the mistake that gave her away; what she had foolishly forgotten to remove. "I'm so sorry," she gasped. "I didn't set out to do it... I really didn't... I just... I'm sorry."

Katherine smiled. "It's alright. Don't take them off," she said calmly.

"You're not mad?" Elena asked incredulously. It didn't seem possible.

"If it were anyone else, I would be," Katherine explained. "But you and I... we share a special connection. Like it or not."

"I guess we do. Like it or not," Elena said.

"Your hair's gone straight again," Katherine said, reaching across the sofa to playfully slap at Elena's hair.

"Yeah," Elena sighed and sipped her wine.

"I could curl it again for you, if you want."

Elena nodded timidly. "Okay..."

Katherine immediately stood up. "Come on."

Elena looked up in surprise. "Oh, you mean right now?"

"No, I mean in ten years," Katherine drawled dramatically. "Of course right now!"

* * *

><p>Katherine struck a match and flared to life six candles upon the silver candelabra, illuminating her dark bedroom in the familiar soft hues of orange, flickering against the red walls. And again, Elena found herself sitting on the same stool in front of the very same mirror where she secretly held her little Katherine dress-up experiment. But this time, Katherine was practically assisting her in doing it all over again. Elena watched herself in the mirror as she was transformed back into the curly diva, the object of her inexplicable fascination. Just as Elena enjoyed being transformed, Katherine got a twisted thrill out of molding Elena in her own image; she enjoyed having Elena as her little doll to play with.<p>

When the work was done, Katherine put down the curling iron and began to tease Elena's hair with a brush and her fingers. She leaned over Elena's shoulder, so close that Elena could feel the vampire's warm breath against her neck; a feeling that was as unsettling as it was sensuous, accompanied by the words that were spoken quietly next to her ear:

"You're very beautiful, you know," Katherine said. "Does it bother you that I would say that?"

Elena gazed at her own reflection. "No," she replied after a brief pause.

"You're almost as beautiful as me," Katherine teased.

"Very funny." A small smile crossed Elena's lips and a tiny laugh escaped her mouth, in spite of the notion that she shouldn't be too sociable with her would-be killer.

Katherine smiled coyly and stood up straight, resting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's good that we're getting to know each other, Elena. Just because we want each other dead doesn't mean we can't reach an understanding." She picked up the small ebony jewelry box and opened it in front of Elena's face, displaying the glimmering luxuries of antiquity. "Which necklace did you like the best?"

Elena's eyes widened. "They're all so lovely..." She reached into the box and pulled out the ivory and lapis lazuli cameo that she had worn before. "But this one just jumps out at me."

"I somehow knew you would pick that one," Katherine said calmly. "Go ahead. Take it."

"What?" Elena asked in disbelief.

"Take it."

Elena shook her head. "No; I couldn't do that. It must be very special to you, for having kept it so long." Ignoring Elena's protests, Katherine smoothly took the necklace from Elena's hand and fastened it around the girl's neck. "Are you really sure?" Elena asked, restraining her surprise at the unexpected gift.

"It's alright. I'm wearing yours, remember?" Katherine lifted the locket that still hung from her own neck. "It's only fair that you wear one of mine."

"Okay... I'm not sure why I like it so much..." Elena went on.

"I think I do," Katherine said, yet didn't follow up with an explanation. "You like this, don't you, Elena?"

"The necklace? Or my hair?" Elena asked, confused.

Katherine shook her head slowly. "You're still asking the wrong questions," she mildly scolded. "You like being me," she said. "Do I intrigue you? Do I fascinate you?"

"I guess so. Because we're doppelgängers."

"I think there's more to it," Katherine drawled slowly. "I think it goes beyond fascination. There's a certain... attraction."

Elena didn't know whether that was a joke or if it was a serious statement, but the word "attraction" made her thoughts crash together like the cars of a freight train that had just been brought to a grinding halt. She didn't know whether to laugh or to deny it or to excuse herself from the room. She tried to read Katherine's expression to check, but her face was indecipherable.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Elena finally groaned, her cheeks suddenly a few shades ruddier than they were two minutes ago.

"But _I_ would," Katherine coolly countered. "Maybe you see a part of yourself in me... a part of yourself that you're drawn to, but you're afraid to... touch." Her last word coincided with her cool, soft hand landing on the side of Elena's face in a slow, teasing caress. Katherine giggled as Elena recoiled, tilting her head and shifting around uncomfortably in her seat, at which point the elder vampire peered into the mirror and addressed Elena's reflection. "I'm a bad girl_,_ Elena. I break all the rules. I never listen to anybody. I didn't do what I was supposed to do. I didn't roll over and die like they told me to..." she went on talking into the mirror, waving the hairbrush like a little baton to punctuate her every statement. "I _know_ who I am, Elena. The question is: who are _you_?"

The dialogue was so reminiscent of the dream, it was surreal. Here was an honest question that demanded an honest answer, but Elena couldn't find one. She didn't know. And the fact that she didn't know was scary, and came as a total surprise to herself. She just sat, transfixed in her own reflection, until the silence became too awkward, and she excused herself for the night.

Katherine restrained a laugh as she watched the girl flee, her bare feet padding down the dark hallway.

Elena was proving to be even more fun than expected.


	7. Dinner for Two

**YOU'LL BE THE DEATH OF ME**

**CHAPTER 7: DINNER FOR TWO**

* * *

><p>The only thing certain was that Katherine was full of surprises. Judging by the old grandfather clock, it was after ten o'clock at night when she came back to the house, bringing with her the unmistakable aroma of fresh, hot pizza. Shortly thereafter, Elena found herself sitting at the grand dining table with the orange crackle of the fireplace at her back and the moonlight from the windows at her side, enjoying her candlelit dinner.<p>

It was a fascinating and surreal sight. The old world decor of the dining room with a touch of the bizarre in the form of the two doppelgangers, seated side by side at the end of the massive table. Their faces were identical. Their hair, which once defined them, were now both worn in Katherine's signature curls. Their accessories, which had once been a differentiating feature, were now jumbled. There was Katherine with her gray halter top and Elena's locket necklace; and then there was Elena, with her pastel blue long sleeved shirt, and Katherine's vintage cameo around her neck.

After living on dry foods for days, the hot meal was a very welcome change of pace. _Welcome_, but suspicious. Especially with the way the vampire perched herself in that high-backed wooden chair, just watching Elena eat, tapping her fingers against the table as if she were bored, or impatiently waiting for something.

"How's the pizza?" Katherine asked.

"Delicious," Elena said. "Don't you want some?"

Katherine shook her head; her cravings were of a different variety. "You like that wine?" she asked, indicating the green bottle on the table.

"Yes. Thank you."

"You're far too _polite_," Katherine snickered. As she leaned over the table to fill Elena's empty glass with the fruity red nectar, the black lace of her bra peeked out from under the edge of her tight gray halter top, contrasting against her creamy flesh. The layering of fabric along her curves was almost artistic. Elena envied how Katherine's every move seemed so effortlessly sexy. "Red wine is good for you. It builds the blood," the vampire said darkly.

"What about you? Why are you being so... hospitable?" Elena asked.

"Eat, drink, and be merry... for tomorrow, you die," Katherine fired back with dark wit.

"But that doesn't explain why you go to the trouble for me."

"Would you bite the hand that feeds?" Katherine challenged.

"You always have an ulterior motive, don't you?" Elena challenged right back.

Katherine squinted one eye and pointed in an admonishing fashion. "You're mistrusting."

"I'm _cautious_."

Katherine giggled like an amused child. "We have so much in common. But contrary to what you might think, I just want our time together to be... _enjoyable._"

Elena took a long drink of wine. Her face disappeared behind the glass goblet while she pondered that puzzling and seemingly contradictory statement. "_Enjoyable?_" she finally repeated. "I don't understand."

Katherine smiled. Not the usual cruel smile, but one that looked honest. "I've gone through five hundred years of hell to arrive at this moment," she said, holding out her five fingers. "I've waited five hundred years... _for you_." She raised her glass. "And now, here we both are. That's worth celebrating!" She shot up from her chair, raising her glass in the air. "To _us!_ The first, and _the last_ of the Petrova doppelgangers!" Katherine laughed and clinked her wineglass against Elena's, concluding the macabre toast without Elena's consent or participation.

Once again, Elena was rendered speechless.

"Come on. Let's go listen to some music!" Katherine's heeled boots clacked across the hardwood floor as she left the dining room.

* * *

><p>Elena found it strange how every room in the house had a different "vibe" to it. While the dining room was "serious" and heavy, the game room was light-hearted and "fun." It couldn't have been a coincidence that the two doppelgangers chose to spend most of their time in the game room. It was a place where they both seemed to forget they were enemies for a while; where they could just be at ease with each other while they drank, listened to music, played cards, or threw darts. And it was also no coincidence that Katherine <em>wanted<em> to meet Elena in the game room on this particular night, with wine and song. She wanted Elena to loosen up. She wanted Elena to open up. She wanted _Elena_.

It was all part of _the dance_.

Katherine was convinced that hidden beneath Elena's _plain Jane_ exterior was a treasure trove of repressed and unfulfilled desires that were just begging to be unleashed. The sultry vampire wondered if Elena had any experiences with another girl. Probably not. Actually, Katherine_ hoped_ not, because she wanted to claim that prize for herself. The idea of being Elena's _first_ female lover turned Katherine on immensely, and just made the goal so much _sweeter_. Of course, Elena would resist and withdraw at first; that was to be expected, but Katherine would persist and find a way past the girl's inhibitions and into her innermost desires. She imagined Elena giving in to a kiss; passively at first, but then returning the kiss with a passionate hunger of her own. She would give Elena a small _taste_ of the pleasures to come, and little by little, the girl would crave _more,_ until the desire became too overpowering, and it would consume her and envelope all of her senses. Katherine imagined slipping her fingers beneath the waistband of Elena's jeans, slowly undressing her by the glow of candlelight, teasing kisses down her neck, running her hands over the smooth, cool flesh as the girl's body responded under her experienced touch. It wasn't merely about the pleasures of sex, but a deeper craving: Katherine wanted to _possess_ the girl; to make Elena _her own_. She wanted Elena to _want her; _not casually, but_ madly_. Katherine wanted to see _fire_ and unbridled lust in the girl's eyes, and to see her own lust reflected back in those glassy brown pools. She imagined Elena's fingers tangled in her curls during the peaks of pleasure, _begging for more_ as a throaty, half-whisper of a moan escaped her lips in the form of her dark mistress' name: _"Katherine."_ What an incredible melody _that_ would be. The very idea was such a turn-on that it made Katherine squirm in her jeans with hot anticipation.

When Elena had finally finished her dinner, she found her way back to her usual spot, seated on the game room sofa with her blue jean legs tucked up under herself. Katherine hefted a stack of dusty records from the bookshelves and set them down on the felt-topped card table, where she began quickly flipping through them one by one.

"Have you ever read _Carmilla?_" Katherine asked casually, never once looking up from the stack of records.

"No," Elena said. "What is that?"

Katherine smiled coyly. "You really should read it. You'd find it _fascinating._"

"_Why_ would I find it 'fascinating?'" Elena asked.

"Because _I do_."

"After I get out of here, I'll be sure to check it out," Elena drolly remarked.

Katherine laughed dryly. "You're such an optimist. I like that about you."

"What are you looking for over there?" Elena asked.

"_This,_" Katherine said happily as she pulled a black vinyl disc from its worn sleeve. Elena couldn't read the label. Katherine blew the dust off the record and set it spinning on the phonograph. The sound caught Elena's ear immediately. It was a classical piano waltz that sounded hauntingly familiar, but she couldn't remember where she recognized it from. It was at the tip of her mind. Elena could almost feel the cogs of her mind working to recall that memory, but her fragile concentration snapped when she noticed the way Katherine was staring at her. Elena had seen that look before. It was a look that seemed to say "I know something you don't, and it amuses me watching you try to figure it out." Typical Katherine.

"Okay, I give up," Elena said. "What's the song?"

Katherine coyly ignored the question. Instead, she sauntered over to where Elena was seated and extended an open hand. "Let's dance," she said nonchalantly.

Elena's eyes darted from side to side. "What did you say?" she asked, almost doubting her own hearing.

"Dance with me," Katherine said.

Elena swallowed hard as the memories all came flooding back. The waltz. The dance. _The dream_. That song was in her dream. But how could Katherine possibly know that? It was all beyond surreal. "Why would you want me to do that?" the girl asked nervously.

"Because I like to dance, and you're the only one here. Doesn't leave me with much of a choice now, does it?" Katherine cheekily offered.

Elena stared off languidly, no longer certain if her experience wasn't just one continual dream. Katherine grew tired of waiting and just pulled the girl to her feet, and before Elena fully snapped out of it, they were dancing; hand in hand, with Katherine pulling the girl closer by the waist.

"Come on; if I wanted to be around someone who's broody and _boring,_ I would have gone to Stefan's," Katherine joked. That got a small laugh out of Elena who was otherwise shocked. Katherine took the lead, whisking her girl around the room with such dramatic whimsy that once Elena started giggling, she found it hard to stop.

"You're _crazy!_" Elena giggled.

"That's what everyone tells me," Katherine said.

"Well, maybe they're right!" Elena teased.

"You're my favorite doppelganger, Elena," Katherine joked. "Am I yours?"

Elena laughed. "That's cute! Excuse me while I _die_ laughing," she joked.

"You like the dance, don't you?" Katherine asked.

Elena noticed the subtle, careful wording of that question. She didn't say "to dance," or "this dance." She said "_the_ dance." A tiny difference, but one that completely changed the meaning of the question. It was deliberate. Katherine was always deliberate and careful with her words. Elena chose not to respond.

"Haven't you ever danced with another girl before?" Katherine pressed on.

"Only in my dreams," Elena remarked, as if baiting her. She suspected that Katherine was playing some strange mind games.

"_What else_ have you done in your dreams?" Katherine teased, her lips curling into a playfully sexy smile. "Have you ever... _kissed_ another girl before?"

Elena's cheeks reddened. "Why would you ask me something like that?" she asked, even though she had a pretty good idea why.

Katherine's smile persisted. "Just curious."

"I..."

"Does it surprise you that I... _like _women?" Katherine interjected.

Elena shook her head. "That's not surprising. It's only surprising that you would like _me_... in that way."

"Is it _really?_" Katherine challenged. "We have a certain draw to each other, Elena. You can't deny it. Let's have some _fun_ with it."

Katherine waltzed the girl to the far end of the room. Aside from their modern clothes and the cozy setting, it all seemed a little bit _too much_ like the dream. It felt suspicious and fun and frightening and taboo and electric and _dangerous_ all at the same time. Elena thought it was like a perfectly executed horror film that scares the hell out of you, but also keeps you so entertained and intrigued that you can't possibly stop watching; you _have to know_ what happens next, and you _have to_ see it through to the very conclusion, even if it _kills you_. It was that combination of enticement and danger; that perfect storm of biological chemistry that made Elena's body tremble uncontrollably under Katherine's hands, and yet the girl didn't quite want to pull away.

Katherine wore a grin of satisfaction as she could feel the girl's hips quake and quiver. The sultry vampire was an _artist_; she knew how to move and when to do it. She knew that seduction was a _dance_, and there were times when you had to push, and others when you had to pull back. And this was clearly a time to _push_. With a brisk step, she whisked her girl across the room and blocked her in the shadowy corner between a bookcase and the wall. Once cornered, Elena looked adorably confused, like a rabbit caught in a cage. Katherine let out a small giggle as she took Elena in an embrace; their bodies pressed up against each other, their breasts separated only by a few thin layers of fabric; their faces close; the girl's breathing quick, and getting _quicker_; a mischievous smirk across the vampire's lips and a twinkle in her eye.

"What are you doing?" Elena spoke so quietly, as if it were a private concern; as if she worried that someone would overhear, even though that was an impossibility. Time felt like it slowed down as she anxiously awaited Katherine's justification; an answer that never came verbally, but rather, as a _touch_. Elena sucked in a quick breath as Katherine's open hand caressed her cheek, affectionately tucking the curls back behind her ear. The girl sensed immediately that it was _not_ a friendly or innocent kind of touch. It was an _amorous _touch. It was a seductive touch. It was a declaration of intent. It was a promise of things to come. Elena shivered, her pulse quickening; a sound that Katherine absolutely adored. The river rapids of a delicate human bloodstream; _that_ was the vampire's favorite kind of music. Elena's nerves tingled as she stood there, trapped, yet somehow hypnotically soothed by Katherine's hand stroking her face and hair. The girl's hushed voice quivered a little when she bravely asked: "_What do you want?_"

"_You,_" Katherine whispered. The word was barely spoken before Elena felt Katherine's pursed lips alight on her cheek. It was so unexpectedly _soft_, so slow, such a tease, but full of promise. And if only it didn't feel _so good_, Elena might have been able to pull herself away from Katherine's embrace. Elena didn't know what was wrong with herself. She never had so much as a fantasy about being with a girl romantically, and yet, she found herself inexplicably drawn to her own doppelganger. Like a moth to the flame, her little wings were almost close enough to singe. Maybe she'd had too much wine, or maybe she was dreaming, but she knew exactly what was coming... and _she wanted it._

"_We both want this,_" Katherine whispered, echoing Elena's most secretive sentiments.

Any doubt as to where things were leading had been vanquished. Elena's eyes closed for a moment, no longer requiring her vision, but sensing and feeling it all as if it were happening in slow motion, feeling the air around her face so sharply as her lips engorged with blood; a sign of arousal that humans were mostly ignorant to, but Katherine certainly was not. Elena struggled in slow motion; not with Katherine, but with herself. And as Katherine's lips swept across her cheek, the girl turned her head ever so slightly, such that Katherine barely caught the very corner of her closed mouth. Like before, it felt enticingly wonderful, and it was a feat of willpower for Elena not to shift in the opposite direction and meet the kiss directly, in order to _amplify_ those feelings and satisfy her own blossoming curiosity. Instead, the girl's lips remained sealed tightly in silent protest, until Katherine pulled back in defeat.

"_I can't..._" Elena moaned softly, watching for Katherine to either persist or withdraw. She watched for a look of disappointment, or anger, or hurt, or aggression; but Elena saw nothing of the sort, as all of the candles in the room were suddenly and inexplicably extinguished, leaving nothing but wisps of smoke in the darkness and the smell of burnt wicks.

"That's _strange_." Katherine's voice broke through the darkness. Such a distraction could not have come at a more perfect time, as it did much to relieve the awkwardness of the situation. "Must have been a draft," she reasoned. What else could it be? The old house was a drafty place, but neither of them had felt much of a draft in the game room; and certainly nothing with enough wind to blow out several candles at once.

"They've all burned down to stubs anyway," Elena said, regaining her composure as she calmly slipped away from Katherine's corner. "I'll get some new ones."

"There's a box in the kitchen," Katherine said.

Elena made herself scarce. She made her way into the dark kitchen and found the box of candles on the countertop. Emotionally conflicted, she was eager to extract herself from a confusing situation, and the excuse was an ideal one. Her relief was short lived, however, as Katherine appeared in the doorway right behind her, black on black, as invisible as a mere silhouette among the shadows, but undeniably _there_.

"Did you find them?" Katherine asked.

"Yeah," Elena said. "I just need to get this box open..."

"I left a razor blade up on the shelf there."

Elena's hand fumbled on top of the shelf until it made contact with the small steel blade. She went to cut into the box, but the room was so dark, she didn't realize she was holding the blade the wrong way, with the sharpened edge gripped between Elena's thumb and forefinger. Instead of cutting the cardboard, the blade sliced deep into her index finger. She yelped from the sting of it, and dropped the blade to the floor.

"What's the matter?" Katherine snapped.

"It's nothing."

But Katherine knew it _wasn't_ nothing. She smelled the blood. "You've cut yourself."

"I'm fine. Just a little cut," Elena said.

But Katherine's concern was not about the cut, it was about the _blood_; or to be more specific, the _smell_ of the blood. Katherine had smelled _a lot_ of blood in her day; yet somehow, this blood didn't quite carry the typical scent. There was an unusual component to it; something out of the ordinary; something that made it... _unique_. "Let me see it," the perplexed vampire said coolly.

An innocent enough request, but Elena was anything but naive. She knew that waving a bloodly limb in front of a vampire was just as foolish as tempting a hungry shark. She held her wounded hand behind her back as if to hide it from Katherine, who stepped ever closer. "It... it's not that bad," Elena stammered nervously.

"I said _let me see it_," Katherine insisted, her tone demanding. Without warning, she lunged forward and forcefully grabbed Elena's wrist, holding it up to get a better look. In the moonlight that shone from the windows, the blood appeared almost black in color as it dripped down the length of the girl's slender finger.

Elena swallowed hard in anticipation of the inevitable. She shuddered and watched Katherine bring the bloody finger beneath her nose to breathe in that curious scent for a moment. There was nothing Elena could do, except turn her head and look away, but she couldn't even do that. She had to watch it all happen with a morbid curiosity. She watched in a hypnotic, horrified trance as Katherine's tongue flicked once at the cut, catching a tiny bit, and rolling it back along her taste buds like a wine connoisseur. The girl cringed and turned and tried in vain to pull away from the vampire's unyielding grasp, but it was too late. Elena felt her wounded flinger slide through the vampire's pursed lips, into the wetness of her warm mouth that sucked and pulled at the wound with a fervor that was as erotic as it was macabre, drawing out what little amount of blood was available. Through the darkness, the look on Katherine's face was unreadable, as if she were mesmerized with the whole experience, and she savored every drop of the uniquely sweet blood before finally letting go of the girl's hand. Elena jerked her hand back, her finger wet with the vampire's thick saliva, before she defiantly and bravely met Katherine's stare.

And then something shifted.

_Something_ shifted and Katherine no longer resembled the playful flirt she was only moments ago. She stood still, and her eyes were vacant and cold. Elena watched that change happen in Katherine's eyes, her face aglow in pale moonlight. There was a flash of bloodshot red in her whites. It was a look Elena had seen before, elsewhere, and it was something she never wanted to see again. Especially not in a locked house with nowhere to...

"_Run."_

Elena's pulse screamed and she bolted. She ran like hell. She swore she even heard the command to "run" vocalized, though she couldn't tell if it was in her own mind, or if Katherine had said it. Either way, _she ran_. Her adrenaline pumped and her heart pounded as she crashed through the dark house, knocking over chairs, bumping into walls, and painfully smashing her shoulder against a doorway. She ran into the foyer and towards the staircase, but her journey ended abruptly when Katherine appeared at the base of the stairs, blocking her path. The two were the exact same height, yet in that moment, Katherine seemed to tower over Elena; dark and ominous, her vampiric visage cloaked in shadow.

Elena came to a grinding halt, panting and breathless. "Please..."

Katherine licked her lips. Indeed, she lusted after Elena. She wanted to _enjoy_ Elena in more ways than one. The idea of making the girl _squirm_ was a turn-on, but there were _many_ different ways to go about it. Elena looked so lovely and scared in the pale moonlight that cascaded in from the windows and fell over the gray marble staircase. Katherine loomed over the girl that was so beautifully identical; the body that shook in fear and conveyed so much fragile mortality. Katherine adored that fragility, and she wanted to _enjoy_ every last part of Elena. But in that particular moment, there was _nothing_ more desirable or more erotic about the girl than the soft, smooth skin where her neck joined her shoulders. That place called out to Katherine; tempting her, and luring her with the sweetness that she had previously sampled.

For a vampire, there was lust, and then there was _blood lust_. Often, the thirst for blood got all tied up and confused with sexual excitement, but there was never any debate as to which lure was stronger. The blood _always_ won.

This would be a kiss she couldn't resist.

"_You're mine_, Elena," Katherine said ominously. "I can have you any way I want, any time I want... and there's _nothing_ you can do about it."

The girl's voice quivered. "Please..."

"It only hurts if you struggle," Katherine said firmly, coldly, _finally_; more as _advice_ to cope with what was about to happen, rather than a threat.

And then the creature of the night lunged, wrapping her arms around the girl in a steely predator's embrace as they both collapsed and wrestled and rolled on the cold marble stairs. Elena screamed. Katherine could hear and _feel_ the girl's _fear_, her little heart thumping as she writhed beneath. Katherine _loved_ the foreplay; she loved the feeling of being on top, of dominating her prey before feeding. Elena's vision was shrouded by Katherine's curls draped over her eyes as she blindly kicked and fought against what no amount of weak, pathetic human flailing could stop. A huff of hot breath hit Elena's neck, and she shivered as moist lips grazed along her skin, _almost_ kissing one tender spot as if it were all just a sensual tease. When the lips found their mark, Katherine actually _did_ kiss the girl's neck once, _hungrily_, like a lover, such that Elena couldn't prevent the slight moan that escaped her own throat; a moan that conveyed _pleasure_ in spite of the terror and in spite of her shame over having such a response. However, such pleasure was short lived.

Katherine _bit_.

Elena's vision flashed white and she screamed again as she felt the searing kiss of fangs pierce the skin of her neck, and Katherine's warm mouth relentlessly clamped over the wound, expertly controlling the blood flow with the pressure of her jaw, drawing out the vital liquid with her tongue, sapping Elena's life force and taking it as her own.

Elena _did_ struggle. And it _did_ hurt. _A lot_.

The flailing girl desperately pounded her fists into the vampire's back, at first with great vigor, but as the blood drained, her punches grew softer and slower, and she felt light headed, and she blinked repeatedly to try to keep her vision from going black.

It was a losing battle, and she soon succumbed to the darkness.

Upon feeling the girl go still, Katherine stopped herself, fearing that she had taken more than intended. And indeed, she had. She had been caught up in the thrill of the hunt, of lust for Elena and the thirst for blood, and of her hauntingly delicious _taste_. The sweet, light, syrupy taste was extraordinary, and irresistible.

But oh, the _horror_ of it all.

Wiping the bloody corners of her mouth with the back of her hand, the vampire stood up. Elena laid on the stairs, unconscious and unmoving, her face a shade or two paler than normal. The blood still trickled from the girl's neck and dripped down, leaving splatters and trails of deep red over the cold gray marble stairs. Katherine looked down upon the bitter scene. She saw helpless Elena with her necklace and pretty brown curls, and she _saw herself_. She saw the fragile human form of herself that she had long forgotten, and it stirred something deep inside the otherwise unfeeling vampire.

Katherine never had any problems with feeding before. It was always _just a meal_ to her.

But for the very first time in centuries, something felt different. And it wasn't only for fear of damaging the goods, because Elena was the sacrifice and had to be protected and kept alive for Klaus. No, there was some other factor at play that Katherine couldn't identify; something she wasn't ready to deal with. So she took Elena's limp body up into her arms and carried the girl to her bed, pulled off her black canvas shoes, and tucked her under the sheets before cleaning the remnants of dried blood from her neck with a damp cloth. And then Katherine sat in the shadows by Elena's bedside, waiting silently in the dark, waiting and watching until the girl eventually stirred and came back to consciousness.

Once Elena's eyelids began to open, Katherine was quick to vanish.


	8. Strange Days

**YOU'LL BE THE DEATH OF ME**

**CHAPTER 8: STRANGE DAYS  
><strong>

* * *

><p>They didn't speak after the bite.<p>

Not that there was much to talk about, anyway. Elena didn't bother to confront her about it. There wasn't any point.

Katherine would do whatever she wanted.

But the strange part was that Katherine seemed to be avoiding Elena just as much as Elena was avoiding Katherine. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but the vampire suddenly started spending much more time out of the house than usual. Elena would lie awake in bed and hear her come in very late at night, her footsteps creaking down the dark hall, pausing at Elena's door, but she didn't enter. Elena hoped she would come in and say something witty, if only to break the tension. Likewise, Katherine hoped that Elena would come out and be angry, or forgiving, or something. Anything seemed better than the silence that enshrouded them. In an unseen moment of simultaneity, the doppelgangers each stood separated by the closed bedroom door at the exact same time, Elena in her dark bedroom, and Katherine in the dark hallway, each with their hand reaching for the doorknob, touching it, but ultimately letting go, and deciding to walk away.

Elena struggled with her feelings and came to realize that her hurt wasn't so much about the bite itself, but in the sense of betrayal. She and Katherine had formed a bond recently; not exactly a friendship, but a kinship, maybe. Unfortunately, Katherine tested that bond with her physical impulses; and Elena was left with a certain sadness, like something special had been lost. The two had a remarkably inherent understanding of each others' personalities. They could get inside each others' head, sometimes to the point where they'd finish each others' sentences, or answer each other before a question was asked. Elena had always been something of an empath. She had a special knack for sensing other people's feelings, sometimes feeling them as if they were her own, and she quite easily picked up on Katherine's emotions. Even though the vampire was reluctant to allow herself to feel or show them, they did exist. Elena knew, and Katherine knew that Elena knew. The idea of being so transparent to the girl had to be a point of frustration for Katherine, who always wanted to take control of every situation. Maybe that's what prompted the bite more than anything else, Elena thought; it was Katherine's way of taking control. It felt odd, being the victim of such vampiric violation. Elena had been involved in the clandestine world of vampires for a while, yet she somehow had miraculously been spared the trauma of being fed on. It was bound to happen sooner or later, she thought; that's to be expected when you're taken captive by a bloodthirsty vampire. She only wondered why Katherine had waited so long to do it.

And she wondered if Katherine would do it again.

Four days passed without incident. On the fifth night, Elena experienced a strangely lucid dream. She was perfectly conscious and aware that she was dreaming, as if she could see right through her closed eyelids while she lay in bed. Someone appeared in the doorway and entered the room, dressed in a white nineteenth century gown. It was Katherine. She came in as if floating along with her corseted figure, her hair curly and shiny, her lips full and pink, her rosy complexion almost glowing in the dark. The vampire's motion was so slow and languid, as if she were walking underwater, and she steadily made her way across the room, climbed onto Elena's bed, and crawled over the girl. Elena was so taken with that familiar beauty such that she had the impulse to reach out and touch her, and she did. The girl looked on with endearment as she ran her fingers through Katherine's silky curls and down her cheeks. Like a blind girl in the dark, her fingertips nimbly read the details of Katherine's face, every feature a perfect copy of her own, yet so strangely alluring. As her fingers came upon the soft warmth of her lips which slightly parted and beckoned, Elena desired to feel them pressed against her own. Katherine's brown eyes glimmered in the dark, and her smile was so haunting and captivating, with an intangible etheric quality that Elena's own human visage lacked. Elena was enraptured, but without warning, Katherine's lovely face began to distort and shift; her brown eyes became almost black, like some kind of demon, and she smiled wider to reveal a set of deadly fangs. Startled, Elena jerked her hand back in fear. The girl had never felt such a powerful mix of attraction and repulsion before, and such unresolved conflict of emotion was almost paralyzing.

"Don't be frightened," the vampire cooed. She looked into the girl's unblinking eyes and stroked her hair tenderly, calming her. Oddly enough, the comforting worked. Elena relaxed her head back against the pillow and breathed easily while the vampire went on reciting quaint sayings that lulled the girl into a sea of tranquility. Her monologue seemed to alternate between French and German and another language that Elena didn't understand, but the foreign words were like a sweet and soothing lullaby in the girl's ear, concluding with one last poetic line: "You are mine; you _shall_ be mine; you and I are one for ever." Elena lay entranced while Katherine softly kissed her on the cheek, and then again on her neck, before giving her the searing kiss of the vampire. Elena laid there, helpless to stop it. But this time, she didn't want to stop it because it felt _too good_. In the dream, the sensation of Katherine drinking her blood was more than just predator versus prey; it was a sexually charged encounter. Katherine's feeding made Elena feel as if every nerve ending were aflame, aroused, and awash with distinct pleasures like waves of golden light which tickled her body in erogenous zones that she never knew existed, pushing her into higher peaks of pleasure that cascaded over her with every drop of blood that Katherine took. In these moments of ecstasy, the doppelgangers were one; bonded together, and indivisible. Elena didn't ever want it to end, but the satiated vampire eventually pulled away and left the girl to her slumber.

Elena awoke from her dream in a peacefully numb state; a sort of sexual afterglow. She might have written it off as just an overactive imagination, if it weren't for what the morning revealed: she felt light-headed and dizzy, and when she climbed out of bed, she noticed a few specks of red on her clean white pillowcase. Alarmed, she went to the large oval wall mirror, tossed her arrow-straight hair behind her shoulder, and discovered a new set of small puncture wounds on her neck. She rubbed her fingertips over the tender spots; the telltale marks of the vampire, proving that Katherine had indeed made a nocturnal visit.

Elena ran her fingers softly over the wounds, looked into the mirror, and smiled.

Her contemplation was short lived, however, as the image of her double appeared in the mirror, standing just behind her, sporting the same straight hair and clothes that had obviously been stolen from Elena's closet at home. In this case, imitation was the sincerest form of _mockery_. Katherine wore the familiar expression that proved she was up to no good. Elena shivered as a hot breath hit her ear, and Katherine's cool fingers brushed over the tender spots on her neck. "Beautiful, aren't they?" the vampire asked. Elena remained silent and stood motionless. "What were you smiling about, Elena... hmm? Did you have sweet dreams last night?" The girl remained stoic, not wanting to get caught up in any more mind games. "It's okay to let yourself enjoy it," Katherine went on suggestively, as her hand brushed slowly down the length of Elena's neck, and carefully slid the thin pink strap of the girl's nightie across her shoulder.

Elena spun around and faced her tormenter for the first time in days. "You're sick," she spat.

"Are you mad at me?" Katherine sang mockingly. "You're adorable when you're angry. You remind me of... _me._" Elena's defiance only encouraged the vampire to push harder. And _push_ she did, as she effortlessly tossed the weak human backwards onto the bed and climbed over her, like a predatory cat pouncing on a helpless mouse. Elena tried in vain to wiggle out from under the vampire's steely grasp. "Don't resist me. You'll only make it harder on yourself."

"You disgust me," Elena huffed.

"Do I really?" Katherine breathed down on the girl's anguished face. "What do you expect me to say? That I'm sorry?" Katherine proposed in a sing-song, mocking tone of voice. "I'm _not_ sorry. I'll never be sorry."

"You didn't feed on me before. Why start now?" Elena grumbled.

"You already know why. Because I want to... Because I can... Because you're mine, Elena." Katherine brought her lips to the sore spots on Elena's neck, pecking at them softly. "Because I love the way you taste," she said, kissing the tender wounds, at first gently with pursed lips, but progressing with a lover's ardour and a teasingly soft bite without any fangs, just like the prior incident. And just like before, a little sigh escaped Elena's mouth despite herself; an unwelcome response that embarrassed her as much as it excited Katherine.

"That doesn't sound like disgust to me, Elena," Katherine teased.

"Why don't you just compel me?" Elena sighed in defeat.

Katherine dragged her moist lips slowly, further down the girl's neck, finding a new target. "Because that wouldn't be any fun. I want you to feel _everything_," she breathed, just before her fangs extended and she bit hungrily into the flesh. Elena groaned but didn't put up as much of a struggle as the last time. Katherine was enthralled by the hot, warm blood that filled her mouth, stimulating her taste buds with its uniquely sweet flavor. She had tasted a lot of blood in her day, but Elena's truly was a delicacy. The vampire took her fill and stood up, licking at the corners of her mouth, while she left the girl bleeding all over the white sheets of her bed.

"Bitch!" Elena snarled.

Katherine laughed when she caught a glimpse of Elena's priceless face. "Don't give me that look. I'm not Stefan. I indulge in fresh human blood, and I never apologize for it."

"I wouldn't expect you to," Elena huffed.

"Good!" Katherine said cheerily as she walked to the door. "You know, I like living with you, Elena. It's so refreshing to be around someone who understands me." On her way out, she picked up a book from the dresser; a little brown book that Elena had never seen before. "A gift for you. Something to do while I'm gone," Katherine said, tossing the book onto the bed. Elena sat nursing her fresh wound and glared intensely. Katherine giggled. "Don't worry, I won't be long. I'll be back to drain you tonight. And tomorrow we can do it again, and again, and again..."

Elena huffed and threw the book back at her in anger. It crashed with a slap against the doorframe just as Katherine ducked out of the room, her laughs echoing down the hallway. Elena heard the sound of the front door faintly closing, and Katherine's car zoomed out of the driveway.

Alone again.

Elena cursed Katherine's name as she cleaned the dried blood from her neck. Then she cursed herself for thinking that Katherine might have acted any differently. After taking a long bath to calm herself, she got dressed and found herself back in her room, staring down at Katherine's "gift," the little brown book that still sat on the floor beside the doorway. She had been so angry earlier that she didn't even notice what it was before hurling it back at Katherine. She picked it up and shone her candlelight upon the golden lettering of the book's title: _CARMILLA_. Elena remembered the name; it was the story that Katherine had spoken about on the night of their "dinner." Curiosity immediately took hold of her. Katherine wanted her to read this story for some particular reason, and Elena was eager to find out why.

Setting two candles on her nightstand, she sat on the edge of her bed and opened the book; the binding creaked, and the heavy pages were stiff with age. Rather than start from the beginning, Elena began skimming through the chapters at random, only stopping to read when a particular passage caught her interest. The story was narrated by a young woman named Laura who had become the chosen companion of Carmilla, a strange and beautiful woman who was taken in as an invalid, but in reality, was a vampire. The relationship between Laura and Carmilla formed the basis for the tale, and several passages were rich with lesbian subtext.

A chill ran down Elena's spine and her heart began thumping strongly when she stumbled upon an eerily recognizable scene:

_Sometimes after an hour of apathy, my strange and beautiful companion would take my hand and hold it with a fond pressure, renewed again and again; blushing softly, gazing in my face with languid and burning eyes, and breathing so fast that her dress rose and fell with the tumultuous respiration. It was like the ardour of a lover; it embarrassed me; it was hateful and yet over-powering; and with gloating eyes she drew me to her, and her hot lips travelled along my cheek in kisses; and she would whisper, almost in sobs, "You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever." Then she has thrown herself back in her chair, with her small hands over her eyes, leaving me trembling._

Elena read that last quote out loud, slowly and deliberately: "You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever." She knew where she heard that before, word for word. Indeed, Katherine loved to play games. As she read on, more oddities jumped off the page. It was obvious that Carmilla represented Katherine and Laura represented Elena. And of course, Katherine may have been purposely reciting certain lines from the book. But that didn't explain the remarkable similarities that Elena discovered between herself and Laura. She read on:

"_Are we related," I used to ask; "what can you mean by all this? I remind you perhaps of some one whom you love; but you must not, I hate it; I don't know you—I don't know myself when you look so and talk so."_

Elena made herself reread that passage three times, and each time, she shook her head in disbelief. "I don't know myself," she muttered. It was a feeling she recognized all too well. She often had a feeling of losing herself when she was with Katherine. And the question of relation had already been considered in regards to their doppelganger connection.

Elena eagerly flipped around the book, again stopping to carefully examine an interesting passage:

_From these foolish embraces, which were not of very frequent occurrence, I must allow, I used to wish to extricate myself; but my energies seemed to fail me. Her murmured words sounded like a lullaby in my ear, and soothed my resistance into a trance, from which I only seemed to recover myself when she withdrew her arms._

_In these mysterious moods I did not like her. I experienced a strange tumultuous excitement that was pleasurable, ever and anon, mingled with a vague sense of fear and disgust. I had no distinct thoughts about her while such scenes lasted, but I was conscious of a love growing into adoration, and also of abhorrence. This I know is paradox, but I can make no other attempt to explain the feeling. _

Elena looked up from the book. "Adoration and abhorrence," she repeated softly. It so perfectly described Elena's feelings toward Katherine. There was the paradise of her dreams and the nightmare of her life, with Katherine right there in the middle, meddling with both. Katherine repulsed her at times, yet Elena was still fascinated by her, and craved her presence. It was all too surreal. Elena was so shaken by the words that she was unsure whether to continue reading or not. She gulped hard. Her pulse quickened, and she felt a faint sweat break upon her forehead. Flashing in her eyelids with each blink were images of the chandeliers, stained glass, and wooden paneling of the Salvatore boarding house, but she shrugged it off as a mere trickery of candlelight and imagination, and continued reading:

_She used to place her pretty arms about my neck, draw me to her, and laying her cheek to mine, murmur with her lips near my ear, "Dearest, your little heart is wounded; think me not cruel because I obey the irresistible law of my strength and weakness; if your dear heart is wounded, my wild heart bleeds with yours. In the rapture of my enormous humiliation I live in your warm life, and you shall die—die, sweetly die—into mine . . ."_

In a sudden fit of panic, Elena flung the book aside. She clutched at her chest in agony. The burning pain that seized her was unbearable and merciless. Unable able to stand up, she rolled off the bed and dropped to the floor with a heavy thud. On hands and knees, she lethargically crawled to the doorway, choking and gasping for a breath. Her calls for help desperately echoed through the empty house.

Katherine's name was on her lips when she collapsed.


	9. La Petite Mort

**YOU'LL BE THE DEATH OF ME**

**CHAPTER 9: LA PETITE MORT**

* * *

><p>"You're scaring her, Damon," Stefan's voice mildly admonished.<p>

"She _should_ be scared," Damon's voice cracked out. "If what we've heard about this guy is true..."

"Elena?" Stefan quietly prodded.

Katherine stared into the blackness that was her closed eyelids, and sank back into the softly inviting cushions of the antique love seat. Once again, she found herself in the company of two chumps who were completely fooled by her act. Acting like Elena was easy, but it was still a boring chore. She pinched at her temple, sighed, and looked up at the chandelier that hung from the ceiling of the Salvatore boarding house. The overcast sky and gray clouds forced a surreal darkness in the foyer, and left Katherine with an uneasy feeling. It just seemed to be one of _those_ days; the kind that she wished she hadn't gotten out of bed. As much as she enjoyed teasing the boys and playing them for suckers, she really didn't want to be with the Salvatores today. Perhaps that was why her thoughts kept drifting back to the _real_ Elena. It was strange, but she felt like she finally had a companion in Elena. She missed her company, her stubbornness, and even her sickeningly altruistic attitude. She missed their challenging conversations, which so often felt like a game of chess. She missed Elena's infrequent, shy smile. But most of all, she missed her sweet, innocent blood. She craved it.

She craved _Elena_.

"So basically what you're saying is the oldest vampire in the history of time is coming after me?" Katherine finally asked, feigning trepidation.

"In a nutshell," Damon said as he threw back a stiff drink.

"Have some tact, Damon," Stefan admonished. He knelt down beside where Katherine sat. "Look Elena, we don't even know if this Klaus guy really exists. For all we know, it could be some story made up to scare everyone."

"You're being incredibly naive," Damon scowled.

"Damon, this isn't the time for it," Stefan scolded, cracks forming in his calm exterior.

"It's okay, guys. I don't want to be kept in the dark. I want you to tell me everything you find out," Katherine said, abruptly standing up from her seat. "Alright, I'd better get going. I promised Jeremy I'd be home before dark."

"I'll walk you out," Stefan said, rising up from his crouching position. Katherine had to make a conscious effort not to walk with her typically sultry swagger. Stefan followed her up the steps from the sunken foyer. "You know, Elena, I was thinking maybe we could get away. Put all of this doom and gloom behind us for a little while. Maybe go on a little road trip?"

Katherine slung her purse over her shoulder. "I don't think so, Stefan. I'm really busy lately."

"Busy with what?" Stefan asked. "You don't seem yourself lately. You've been skipping classes. If I didn't know better, it seems like you're trying to distance yourself from me."

Katherine did her best Elena-like sigh. "I just need a little time off, that's all."

Stefan crossed his arms over his chest. "Where were you last night?"

"At home," Katherine lied while she visualized what she was _really_ doing: slipping into Elena's bed, putting dreams in her mind, and drinking her blood.

Stefan nervously scratched the back of his head. "It's just that... I went to your house. You weren't there. You told Jeremy you were with me. And you told me you were home with Jeremy. So..."

Katherine gulped hard. Rather than risk getting caught in further lies, she chose to cut and run. She bit her lip and exhaled, trying to mimic Elena's "I can't be bothered with this right now" kind of look. "Sorry, Stefan. I told you I needed some time alone. Please respect that."

Stefan nodded in defeat. "I do. It's just that I thought we were past the point of keeping secrets from each other. Whatever it is, you can tell me."

Katherine sighed. "I can't do this now, Stefan. I have to go." She turned to leave, but Stefan blocked her path.

"Alright. But consider that road trip. I was thinking maybe we could go to that bar in Atlanta again. We had a lot of fun, remember?" Stefan asked. Instantly, Damon's ears perked up at the question and he froze in the midst of pouring another drink. It was a sign. Damon immediately knew what was going on, and what his brother was up to. Stefan shot a furtive glance back down the foyer, and Damon quietly dropped his chin in a stealthy nod.

"Sure, I remember. It was fun," Katherine said hurriedly.

Stefan's smile dropped. "Elena and I never went to Atlanta, _Katherine_."

Katherine didn't even have a chance to blink before both brothers pinned her against the wood paneled wall; Damon strangled her by the throat, while from out of nowhere, Stefan plunged a stake deep into her stomach. The vile wood hurt like bitter poison burning through her veins as blood spilled from around the wound, soaking and staining the blue cloth of her shirt front. She yowled in agony and wrenched against Damon's choke hold.

"Do we really have to do this dance every time we meet?" Katherine groaned.

"Where is she?" Stefan demanded.

"She's _mine _now!" Katherine let out as much of a laugh as she could in spite of the awful pain of the wood piercing her flesh. "What's the matter, Stefan? Jealous that I'm pleasing your woman in ways you never could?" she spat venomously.

"Wrong answer," Damon growled.

Stefan wasted no time. He forcefully yanked the stake out and plunged it into her once again, a little bit higher and closer to her heart. She groaned and began to sweat. It was clear that the brothers weren't playing games. "Each time you don't answer the question, I'm going to stake you another inch higher. That leaves you with three more chances before I reach your heart," Stefan said calmly. "Now, let's try it again: where is she?"

"You boys are so damn hot when you're violent. How about we move it into the bedroom?" Katherine breathlessly teased, but the unflinching brothers didn't appreciate her sense of humor. Stefan angrily pulled the stake free and jabbed her again, another inch higher, as promised. She winced and groaned in agony.

"Last chance," Damon announced with a wild look in his eyes.

"If you kill me, you'll never find her," Katherine growled, taking satisfaction in the subtle concerned glances the brothers shot each other. With a fierce tug, Stefan ripped the stake out and came at her once more. But this time, Katherine met him with a swift kick to the chest which sent him tumbling down the steps of the foyer. As Damon glanced back at his fallen brother, Katherine took advantage of his lapse in attention, twisting the elder Salvatore's arm behind his back, and flipping him into an antique end table, which crashed with an explosive burst of splintered wood and glass. With a huff, Katherine blew the strands of hair out of her face and fled the boarding house, and not a moment too soon. "It's been fun, boys. I'll be sure to send your love to Elena," she snickered on the way out.

* * *

><p>Katherine cursed as she fled the boarding house, wiping her bloody hands on the already stained blue shirt and blue jeans of her drab and uninspired "Elena uniform." Her wounds healed themselves in a matter of seconds, like usual, but a hint of pain lingered that was strangely out of the ordinary. Vampires' physical pain is fleeting, under normal conditions. Nevertheless, she shrugged it off, figuring that a good feed was all she needed. As she drove away, she pulled a fresh blood bag out from under the seat and drained it in a matter of seconds, dropping the empty bag to the floor with a satisfying squish. Thirst satiated, she felt better, but still not one hundred percent. The ghost pains in her stomach and the relentless pounding in her temple were troubling. Veering the car down a side street, she suddenly heeded the urge to get home as quickly as possible. But when she arrived back at the house, everything seemed a little bit <em>off.<em> The birds were quiet. The evening skies were still as the sun made its descent into the horizon. The house somehow projected a hollowness, like it was empty; devoid of any signs of life. Something felt decidedly _wrong_. It was like she could feel the stillness of the crisp air all around her. And it wasn't until she hurried up the front steps, unlocked the door and burst into the house that she understood what her instincts were trying to point out all along.

Car keys hit the marble floor with a clang that echoed through the house, and Katherine's hardened heart sank like a stone at the horrific scene before her eyes. There was blood _everywhere_. Elena's blood. A winding trail of red stretched all the way down the gray marble stairs, streaking a path across the black and white tiles of the floor, flanked by bloody hand prints along the way. Katherine raced across the room, following the blood trail into the parlor where the rest of the ghastly scene presented itself. The girl was slumped face down on the floor. It had been centuries since Katherine had felt the kind of fear she felt right then, as she knelt beside Elena's body. "Don't you die on me! Don't you _dare_ die on me!" She barked orders at the girl's disturbingly unresponsive body. Katherine cradled the wounded girl into her arms, holding her up halfway off the floor. And finally, the weak but lovely sound of a pulse revealed itself.

Elena's eyes opened halfway. Her shirt front was almost completely soaked in blood, making a purple mess of the finely knit blue cloth. "Katherine?" Elena babbled, halfway coherent. "You came back. I knew you would."

"I'm here," Katherine said with a hushed voice. "Stay with me." The vampire brought her own wrist to her mouth, bit into the flesh, and tore deeply into the artery. The fresh blood flowed deep and red from the wound, and she quickly transferred her wrist from her own mouth to Elena's. "Drink," she encouraged, "_drink_, damn it!" The vampire pressed her wrist firmly to the girl's lips. Elena hesitantly took her first taste of her ancestor's ancient blood, and then swallowed with a hungry vigor as her body's natural response took over, craving more of what healed her. It was a role reversal and a uniquely satisfying experience for Katherine to feel Elena drinking readily of the sweet stream that flowed from her wrist. And although her hands were covered with Elena's fresh blood, a single thought of indulging never crossed Katherine's mind; she was simply too scared to feel hunger.

With the intake of vampire blood, Elena felt a warm calmness wash over her, cradled in the arms of her unlikely guardian angel who was the mirror image of herself. It was a strange feeling, but in that moment, Elena knew that Katherine would have moved mountains to protect her and keep her safe. The girl's eyes sparkled back to life and opened wide, and with a heavy breath, she pushed away Katherine's life-giving wrist.

"What happened?" Elena asked groggily.

"_You_ tell me!" Katherine snapped.

"I don't know, I..." Elena sighed.

"Wrong answer, Elena! Did you try to kill yourself?" Katherine demanded. It was the most logical scenario, yet it was seemingly absurd. She knew very well that Elena was not one to commit suicide.

"No! Someone attacked me," Elena sighed.

"There isn't anyone else in the house, Elena. The doors were locked," Katherine persisted. "Who stabbed you?"

"I don't know," Elena said. "I just remember reading that book you gave me. I was reading, and then..." she shook her head in disbelief. "Then I was on the floor."

"Didn't you see anything?" Katherine prodded.

Elena shut her eyes and remembered. "Stained glass, I think... I remember a stained glass window. But my room doesn't have windows."

"What else?"

"Can't remember..."

"Try harder!" Katherine demanded.

Elena's eyelids suddenly flipped open. "Damon and Stefan," she said in half whisper. No sooner did she say the words that Katherine pulled her into what seemed like a hug. It shocked Elena for a second, until she realized Katherine was just transporting her to the nearby sofa.

"Sit. Stay." Katherine ordered.

"I'm okay," Elena insisted.

"No, you're not! You stay right there," Katherine said firmly. "Don't even try to get up, or I'll knock you back down myself." She knew Elena was telling the truth, and that was disturbing. Elena's wounds were identically placed and inflicted at approximately the same time as Katherine's. It was far too much to be a coincidence. There was more at play here than what could be explained by conventional logic.

Elena watched Katherine step out of the room. It was obvious she was making a phone call. Elena listened intently to Katherine's side of the conversation: "Lucy... we have a problem. Your fancy link spell is still active!" There was a short pause. "Oh really? I got stabbed and the girl nearly bled to death! Explain that!" Silence. Katherine was obviously agitated. "How the hell should I know?" she huffed. "Look, never mind that. I don't care how or why it's happening, I just want you to put a stop to it. Break whatever connection she has with me. Can you do that?" There was a long pause of silence. Katherine sighed. "Fine. Try it. Try _everything_."

* * *

><p>The phone conversation abruptly dropped off and Katherine came back into the parlor with a glass in each hand; red liquid in one, and orange in the other. She very stoically presented the orange juice to Elena, who graciously accepted it and sat up on the sofa, freeing up a spot which Katherine sluggishly slumped into, perching her feet upon the ottoman.<p>

Elena drank her juice, and watched, and waited. Katherine just sat and took a long drink from her glass of blood, staring off at the wall, seemingly in deep contemplation.

"You're... back on the bags?" Elena asked hesitantly.

Katherine squinted at Elena as if trying to find where she got the nerve. "For now," the vampire said dryly.

Elena opened her mouth as if to say something, but decided against it. Though after a minute of silence, the curiosity proved too much. Changing her mind, Elena timidly and quietly attempted the question. "You were really worried about me, weren't you?" Elena already knew it was true; she just wanted Katherine to acknowledge it in some form. She had seen it in Katherine's eyes, and in the way the vampire cradled her and made her drink the blood that brought her back to life.

Katherine's eyes swept downward across the oriental rug that occupied most of the floor space in the room, and she pinched at her temple with her thumb and forefinger as if she was suffering from a headache. "It would have been a terrible inconvenience for you to die on me today." Katherine crossed her arms and glanced over, looking very much like a hardened version of Elena. They were a funny pair, sitting there like two Elenas with their bloody shirts.

"What about you? Are you alright?" Elena asked.

Katherine smirked. "Vampires heal quickly."

"Only on the outside," Elena quietly remarked.

Katherine studied the girl up and down, then shook her head, vaguely smiling, and went back to drinking.

"So did you find out what happened?" Elena asked.

Katherine shrugged her shoulders. "That damned witch must have screwed up."

"But I thought she lifted the spell," Elena said.

"She did. Or at least she thinks she did," Katherine said, shaking her head. She brought a finger to her lips and tore it against her teeth, flicking a tiny cut into her skin. Elena winced and looked down as her own finger began to bleed, her wound identical to Katherine's, save for Katherine's cut healing itself, while Elena's remained open. "But this is evidence to the contrary, isn't it?"

"I'd say so," Elena said.

Katherine smirked. "Don't worry. I'm not going to let you die. Not before it's time."

"And you have no problem condemning your own descendant to death?" Elena challenged.

"Better you die than I," Katherine responded dryly.

Elena frowned. "So much for family ties, then."

"We're hardly _family_ in the traditional sense. Don't expect any sympathy from me."

"What do you mean?" Elena asked with a seemingly offended tone. "I thought I was a Petrova."

"Yes... and no," Katherine said enigmatically.

Elena shook her head. "Now I'm confused. How does that work?"

Katherine looked her over. "You want to know who you really are?"

"Yes," Elena said without a second of hesitation.

Katherine drank from her glass of blood, an expression of contemplation on her face. "You have to understand that the doppelganger is a supernatural occurrence. I guess you could call it a curse." She cackled dryly. "Anyway, this 'curse' follows the Petrova bloodline. It's not about genetics, or anything like that. It's about magic, and timing."

"Timing?" Elena repeated.

"Every five hundred years," Katherine began, "a new one shows up. A new one of _us_. June 22. That's our day."

Elena's eyes opened wide. "We're born on the same day?"

"Surprised?"

Elena frowned. "Actually, no."

Katherine nodded. "According to the research, Isobel would have given birth to you even if she had been a virgin. Same goes for my mother..." She sipped from her glass of blood while Elena listened attentively. "So we're hardly related in the traditional sense. We're not meant to last. We don't even belong here. We're just freaks. Some witch's idea of a cruel joke." The vampire took a deep drink and sighed with satisfaction. "So there. Now you know who you are. Feel better?"

"Not really." Elena sighed. "But now I see where your cynicism comes from."

"If only you knew the whole of it," Katherine said.

Elena suddenly stood up and began to leave the room.

"Where are you going?" Katherine called after her.

"I want to clean up."

The girl was startled by Katherine appearing in front of her, blocking the path, waving a restrictive finger at her as if she were a misbehaving child. "You've got my blood in your system."

Elena shook her head. "I'm not going to kill myself."

"And you think I'm just going to take your word for it?" Katherine challenged.

"Look, I don't want to be a vampire. It's not a solution. You know that better than anyone. You know I'm not going to kill myself. It's not my style." Elena bravely stepped past the confrontational vampire, only to be stopped by a hand bearing down on her shoulder.

"I _do_ know," Katherine said. "But _you_ know it's not my style to trust anyone. I'll be keeping an eye on you."

Elena nodded in acceptance and marched up the stairs, her footsteps echoing back through the cavernous house.

* * *

><p>Katherine kept to her word.<p>

Later that night, Elena lay in bed, reading _Carmilla_ properly, from the very beginning. The flickering light of the lone candle on her nightstand was barely enough to make out the text, but she managed, even though the reading made her sleepy. Her sparse moments of peace and solitude didn't last, however. Katherine was known to be a liar, but where her own security was concerned, she never faltered, and she kept true to her word in watching over Elena.

Elena turned a page and there was a flash in the corner of her eye, and suddenly, the sultry vampire was lounging right beside her on the bed; elbow on the pillows, her chin propped up on her fist, leisurely poised like some goddess captured in sculpture. Elena glanced over from her book to see the familiar delightful, yet somehow malicious smile. Her signature curls that fell about her shoulders carried the trace scent of apple shampoo. Her skin almost glowed beyond the blackness of her loose fitting silken robe that was half obscured in shadow, and Elena's eye was drawn down to the narrow slit of silk which opened up ever so slightly and revealed a path of creamy skin upwards of her thigh, without a single hair to disrupt the smoothness of her bare flesh. Elena quickly averted her eyes from the fleeting nudity, and nervously retreated to her book. Katherine possessed certain _charms_, and she knew it, and Elena knew it, and Elena was jealous, and Katherine flaunted it more because she knew Elena was jealous, and the resulting tension in the air between them was deliciously tense.

"Did you run out of clean laundry?" Elena proposed sarcastically.

"Problem?" Katherine sang cheekily. "It's just us girls, so..."

"Doppelganger dormitory, apparently," Elena joked, her attention still focused on the book.

"You're very chirpy for someone who nearly died today," Katherine said, twirling a lock of hair around a finger. "How's the story?"

"Intriguing," Elena said nonchalantly, flipping a page. "Why do you want me to read it, anyway?"

Katherine sighed. "I thought you'd find it relevant to our situation."

Elena flipped a page. "I do; almost frighteningly so. I'd just find it easier to read if you stopped talking."

Katherine yawned and laid her head back on the pillow, stretching herself out on her side of the bed. "I'm bored."

"That's a shame," Elena drawled facetiously, her attention fixed on the page. She savored a few minutes of silence before Katherine started up again.

"Can you still feel me?"

Elena frowned. "What?"

"Can you still feel me?" Katherine repeated.

Elena shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"Can you feel this?" Katherine asked, pinching her own earlobe hard between her thumb and forefinger.

"Ouch!" Elena whined.

"Okay, now we know. I wouldn't have imagined it was so subtle. Can you feel this?" Katherine asked as she lightly brushed her fingers, tickling a spot behind her own knee.

"Stop!" Elena giggled.

"Interesting," Katherine purred, as another idea crossed her mind. She figured she might as well have some fun with this mystical connection while it remained. She ran a cool hand underneath the black silk of her robe, tracing a path past the flat of her stomach, down to the sensitive area of her inner thigh, lingering where she most enjoyed being touched. "What about... this?"

Elena sucked in a quick breath. Question answered.

The shy girl ignored the tease and quickly turned her attention back to the book, figuring Katherine was just trying to get a rise out of her, as usual. Elena didn't want to give her the satisfaction, but Katherine didn't stop. She was too busy giving _herself_ the satisfaction, and Elena could feel it, too. It was the strangest thing Elena had ever felt; the sensation of being touched, without being touched.

The mischievous smile Katherine wore said it all. She brought her fingertips to her lips and licked them before her hand returned beneath her robe, further down between her legs, teasing the folds of flesh where silk met skin, and allowing her fingers to play there. She had never been shy about her body. She knew what she liked and how she liked it, and it never took long to get there. Katherine loved to play games, and this game was deliciously naughty; the very kind she liked best. The faint scent of the girl's arousal was encouragement enough to keep playing.

It quickly escalated to the point where Elena couldn't ignore her own sensations building beneath the sheets. Without a care, she let the book drop off the side of the bed and hit the floor with a clap, as she timidly turned her attention towards the scene next to her. She had never seen another girl touch herself in person, let alone one in her bed at less than an arm's length away. The sight was alluring, arousing, and it stirred something primal deep inside, awakening her inner voyeur; the girl who _liked to watch_. It was perfectly complimentary. Elena liked to watch, and Katherine liked to _show_; ever the exhibitionist.

Where Katherine led, Elena followed; the girl's body responded in kind, and they mirrored each others' pleasure, completely drawn in to the unique eroticism of their touchless entanglement. Elena drank up every visual detail of Katherine, who like Carmilla, conveyed an almost ethereal beauty: half-shrouded in shadow; her scarlet painted toenails; her smooth and slender legs stretching across the bed; her hand vanishing into the blackness of her robe between her legs; the constant motion of her wrist; the soft curves of her breasts beneath the thin folds of her robe; the graceful fall of her curls over her shoulders; the flicker of the orange candlelight upon her face; her eyes so dark and wet with desire; the gold chain of her necklace drawn up into her mouth, clenched between the whites of her teeth, biting down as her pleasure peaked; her chest expanding and collapsing with each breath. The sultry vampire wore a teasing smile, and the airy sighs from the sides of her lips became louder and more vocal, almost like a mocking laughter at the sight of helpless Elena clawing her fingertips into the mattress, harder and harder, their breathing heavy as their eyes locked, and muscles tensed and relaxed; synchronistically, synergistically, simultaneously, coming together as one.

Not a word was spoken.

They laid still, their bodies heavy and breathy; quiet in their shared afterglow and flickering candlelight. They were the doppelgangers who weren't supposed to exist together, yet their paths were inevitably intertwined in spite of everyone and everything between them. Elena wasn't sure why she wanted to reach her hand across the bed, but she did it. And Katherine wasn't sure why, but she accepted Elena's hand in her own, and held it. And they became like children seeing the world for the very first time, fascinated by such simplicity, how their fingers meshed and fit together so perfectly.

They both knew it was only beginning. Their world was without end.


End file.
